The Traitors of Olympus II: The Blood of a Mayan
by JFlashandClash
Summary: The New Seven are starting to understand the meaning of Phobetor's night terrors and the Traitor's Prophecy. Just when they think they can use these omens to their advantage, someone starts playing pranks on the Greek gods. As the New Seven scramble to help keep order, Pax, Axel, Kally, and the others start to realize these pranks are a diversion for something much more deadly.
1. Euna:security does not keep out monsters

**The Traitor's Prophecy**

" _Seven without a satyr,_

 _By vice and sin, called traitor,_

 _Cursed by boar, cursed by a dove,_

 _Trails of Psyche lead by love,_

 _Web of lies, kept by an oath._

 _Growth by death and death by growth,_

 _Orpheus' head, won by heart's loss._

 _Darkness' end: pax or chaos."_

One: Euna

Security Systems Do Not Discourage Monsters

Euna was fourteen when she was told her sister was going to die. At the time, they were still living in a two room apartment in Duluth, Georgia. Her friends from Hapkido were disappointed she'd be missing practice that night, but it was a special night for their family: the Spring Equinox.

Every year, her father had them take the day off from school to help sow the fields at a local farm—or church—or anywhere that had a garden. Then she and Joey were allowed to pick out a plant that would be special to them throughout the year and add that to their growing collection of potted plants scattered about their kitchenette. "You guys don't need a pantry," her friends would tease, "your apartment _is_ your pantry."

That year was different. Joey got attacked by a dog. Everyone else said it was a stray dog, one that had been spotted begging by the H-Mart near Pleasant Hill Road, but Euna could see that wasn't what it was. She saw that it was _huge_ and had disappeared into the shadow after the attack, like it was folding back into the pages of a popup book.

Her father rushed Joey to the hospital. Euna was left at the apartment, alone except for the plants and the woman hiding among them.

The woman didn't scare Euna. She wasn't supposed to be there, but Euna was top of her Hapkido class and didn't scare easily. Besides, the woman felt familiar.

She was beautiful. She had blond hair, enlaced with tiny flowers that dropped petals every time she tilted her head and sky-blue eyes that observed their kitchenette garden with a solemn happiness.

"Who are you?" Euna asked.

"I am Persephone," said the woman. She touched one of the pots and the bud therein burst into full bloom. "And I have a message for you, but I don't have much time."

This didn't surprise Euna: the insta-grow touch nor the friendly break-and-entry message, though she wanted to protest that a phone call would have been sufficient. As Euna liked to say, it didn't take an idiot to know she was special. Euna could do the same flower trick and saw things in the shadows that others couldn't.

"You must remember," Persephone began. The smile on her face withered when she glanced up. "What happens to our little sister will not be your fault. When she comes to me for aid, I will do what I can, but neither you nor I can change her fate. A rising god _will_ kill her."

* * *

Euna had picked an apple tree the year she received her sister's death notice. When they moved to Virginia, the apple tree came with them. She planted it in their backyard—now picked dry from harvest—and watched it thrive for two years. When she went to Camp Half-Blood, she wondered if she would have to replant it there.

Now, a month after she'd discovered she was a demigod, a hydra politely vetoed the idea by melting the tree with acid.

The memory of Persphone flashed through Euna's head as she watched the bark disappear and felt the tree scream out at having its skin burned off. Sure, she had some bad memories associated with that tree, but not enough to wish an acid bath on its branches.

That hydra was definitely going to die.

But Euna zoned out for too long. One of the eight snake-like heads darted at her.

A shotgun went off nearby.

Half the hydra's head smattered into the one beside it. Euna figured the event must have been pretty traumatizing for the head being blasted with its companion's brain matter. Unfortunately, the splattered remains began to reform.

Joey hopped off the back porch as she reaimed the DP-12 double barrel pump shotgun. When Joey heard the commotion in their backyard, she must have pulled the weapon from their dad's gun safe. She fired again before pausing to pump two new rounds into the chamber.

"How do we kill it?!" Joey asked. Each time she fired, the hydra looked less like it was going to die and more like it was going to play _pin the skewer in the half-blood._

Euna still felt half-asleep. She'd woken from a nap and wanted a quick walk through the gardens to clear the nightmare from her head. Then she'd run into a hydra, a serpentine creature, about the size of a small elephant. This might also clear her head, but she was annoyed and skeptical at the prospect.

Camp Half-Blood had loaned her a glaive—one she'd been keeping conveniently with their gardening supplies. So far though, all her strikes had done was sprout the creature an extra head.

"I don't know!" Euna said.

"I told you we should have stayed at camp!"

Before her sister's shout had died into the twilight, a volley of arrows slammed into the monster. One of the arrows had a glass jar attached that shattered on impact; another, a fiery tip.

The hydra roared as its body blazed into a conflagration.

Silvery shapes darted out of the park beside their house. Euna didn't have time to focus on them. In its panic and pain, the hydra charged her and, by proxy, her house. She was _not_ about to let a monster set the Song dwelling on fire.

Euna could feel the root network under the yard. She felt a tug in her stomach as she found the roots of the closest oaks and _pushed_ them up.

The hydra stumbled when the ground erupted underneath its feet. By now, at least half its heads had gone limp from burning, but the other four still wriggled, twisting and snaking to spit acid at the roots.

It was getting ready to charge again.

Euna aimed her glaive at the hydra and braced for impact. She wished she had some seeds so she could burst a tree into its path, maybe make it impale itself. Beside her, she could hear Joey scream a taunt, firing again and again to no avail. If they had more time, they could command more roots closer—

The hydra charged.

A girl behind it let out a war cry.

Lightning crackled. For a disorienting moment, everything went white. A clap shook the ground, then all Euna could hear was a loud ringing, like Zeus had decided to swirl his finger on the edge of the world's largest water glass.

She expected to be slammed by several tons of flaming monster.

Instead, when she managed to blink the dots out of her eyes, she found a girl with a silver parka standing over her.

As the dust settled around their once-beautiful garden, Euna could see there were several girls in silver parkas, all between ages 9 and—maybe the oldest—around Euna's age. They all had their hands over their ears and were glaring at the girl in front of Euna.

Her black hair was short and spiky, bracing a silver tiara. She had piercing blue eyes, ones that sparkled in the darkening sky. Her skin seemed to shimmer. Euna realized, as an afterthought, that she was beautiful.

The girl said something that Euna couldn't make out in her deafened state, though from reading her lips, it was something like, "I'm the Leia." As in Princess Leia? From Star Wars?

The girl made a face, apparently annoyed Euna didn't understand. She offered Euna a hand.

Until then, Euna hadn't realized that she'd fallen over. The lightning blast must have knocked her down. That also meant she must have zoned out in the timeframe it took this girl to walk from the dusted monster over to her, which meant she'd likely been staring at her. This never bothered Euna, but tended to make others give her a wide berth.

Euna was pleased this girl didn't care.

As she took her hand, Euna could hear the muffled shout of another girl, "Thalia—you promised you'd announce before you beckon the sky!"

Thalia rolled her eyes at the girl's comment. Once Euna was on her feet, she asked, "You okay?"

Euna nodded, staring past her at the crater in her yard. "Daughter of Zeus?" Euna guessed, remembering the counselor of Cabin One could shoot lighting as well.

Thalia nodded and jutted a thumb at the roots sticking out of the ground. "Daughter of Demeter?"

"Yep," Euna said and patted her pockets, forgetting—again—she didn't have any seeds at the moment.

"Demeter is my mom too," Joey added. She had stepped up beside Euna, shouldering her father's firearm. She held her chin high.

Thalia's eyes examined the weapon in appreciation. "And what does your dad do?"

"Garden," Euna said.

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "With a shotgun?"

Joey sighed dramatically, like the answer to Thalia's question had been obvious.

"Oh," Euna said. "He likes to keep up with his military training. He has a license for it now." She glanced around, to where the other girls in parkas were examining the ground. One of them cursed in Ancient Greek at the ruined yard. "Uh… I'm Euna. Not that I'm not appreciative about the help but… who are you guys?"

"And what are you doing in our backyard?" Joey asked.

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "We're scouting ahead for Lady Artemis. Have either of you guys seen a fox? Maybe about.. smart car sized?"

"We were a little distracted by the hydra," Joey muttered. "Also, JooYeon as an fyi."

Euna swatted at her sister who scowled. "What's going on with the fox?" she asked once she was sure Joey wouldn't retaliate.

Thalia's scowl deepened. "Someone had the audacity to tell Lady Artemis she couldn't… Argh!" She stamped her foot in frustration and cut herself off, like she was about to say something forbidden. "It's not important. We're just hunting a fox."

That was enough of an explanation for Euna. She started to contemplate whether or not their house insurance would cover… could she call it a lighting strike? In the yard? And if she could use her powers to clean up the yard before her father came home from his business meeting.

Thalia seemed, similarly, to be done with the conversation. Her eyes scanned over the other girls checking the ground for tracks and—wolves? Had the wolves always been prowling among them?

Joey cleared her throat loudly, "Artemis? As in the goddess?"

Thalia looked confused then glanced back over at Joey. Her eyes softened. "Yes. I'm sorry. It's been tense since we got the taunt—I'm forgetting my duty. I could see when I was approaching from the forest: you two fought well to defend your house. I'm sad Artemis couldn't have seen that herself. Here—" Thalia felt around the inside of her parka until she produced two brochures. "We're the Huntresses of Artemis, her troupe of immortal maidens."

As soon as her finger made contact, Joey flipped the pamphlet open in excitement. "Immortal? That's awesome! How do you get her to grant that?"

Euna took the brochure in one hand, but didn't open it. Realistically, it was going straight in the trash. Not that she wasn't interested in what the girl had to say, but she was way too lazy to read through all the material herself.

Despite her prior irritation, Thalia grinned at Joey's enthusiasm. "You take an oath to go on the eternal hunt with Lady Artemis. Unless you fall in battle, you will spend forever running through the wilderness, enjoying the wild spots left in nature and attending to the goddess." The serenity in Thalia's voice made Euna desirous. Eternity hanging out with plants? She could get behind that. "It's a pretty sweet gig." Thalia continued. She shrugged. "All you have to do is give up the company of men—"

"Oh!" Joey jumped. She put one hand to her mouth and used the other to place the pamphlet back into Thalia's hand. "Thanks for offering but uh—"

"Keep the pamphlet," Thalia said, unoffended. "I didn't become a huntress until years after I was offered."

"Right… uh—I'm going to grab some grass seed from the shed." Joey glanced at Euna. "So we can fix up the yard?"

"I'll be over in a sec," Euna told her, tapping her fingers against the brochure.

Joey's jaw dropped. "You're not serious?"

Euna scowled. "Go to the shed."

Joey stared at her for a few more seconds in disbelief. Then she huffed and stormed to a small shack, built right on the property line between the Song house and the park. _They must have come from the park_ , Euna thought. She'd have seen them if they came from her neighbor's yard.

"Are you thinking about joining?" Thalia asked.

Euna shook her head. "Not yet. I can't…" Euna wanted to squirm as she said it, "I can't leave my sister."

Thalia glanced over to the shed, where Joey was unloading the DP-12. "I think she's got it under control."

Euna hesitated. The memory of Calex kissing her in Howe Cavern drifted through her mind, and of the Pax brothers taking off their shirts to hide celestial daggers, darts, and steel knives under their clothing. She was shocked how well she could visualize Axel Pax's back and the scars stretched across his muscles.

Feeling Thalia's eyes on her, Euna brought her attention to the present. The huntress was so relaxed and self-assured. Her eyes blazed like the lightning from her father.

"Can't you still have relationships?" Euna asked, a realization teasing the edge of her mind.

"Nope." Thalia shook her head. "No contact with men. Well, minimal. Sometime we drop by Camp Half-Blood to put the campers into their place."

Euna shrugged. "I'm not talking about with men."

Thalia blinked. Slowly, understanding brought a half-smile to her face. "I think the idea is to forswear all romantic love, but the oath doesn't specifically say that." She returned Euna's shrug. "I'll ask for you."

A wolf patted up to Thalia's side. She reached down to pet it, tilting her head as though she were listening. "Looks like our fox went that way," she nodded towards their neighbor's yard. Euna was really glad the Kims went dancing on Friday nights and wouldn't call the cops about the lightning strike or the small army of preteen and teenage girls about to run through their lawn. She just hoped the next house over would think running en masse with bows was some new thing all the kids were doing these days.

When Thalia stood up, she examined Euna. "Iris message me sometime," she finally said. "I can tell you what Artemis says and maybe you, me, and your sister can go shooting with your dad's guns."

Normally, Euna avoided leaving the house unless it was for school or one of her fighting classes, but she found herself nodding. "Sounds good."

They shook hands. A spark zapped Euna's palm. When she jumped, Thalia gave her a grin. "See you later."

As the Huntresses of Artemis and the wolves disembarked, Euna joined Joey by the shed.

"Are you done flirting?" Joey snapped. She'd already dragged a bag of seed out. The gun was still unceremoniously propped against the shed, but at least she'd put the safety on and left the ammo to the side.

Euna froze. "Was I flirting?"

Joey rolled her eyes. "Augh, you're as bad as a boy."

Euna glanced over at the destruction in the lawn. They'd need shovels to fix that crater, they'd have to use their powers to put the roots back in the ground, and… more than just grass had been ripped up. She frowned at the remains of her half-melted apple tree. "Joey…" she whispered. "Do you think joining the Huntresses could change your fate?"

* * *

They were quiet while they worked. Fixing up the roots, planting the grass, and making the grass grow: none of that took long. Though the sun did sink behind the treeline before they were done. Neither of them knew what to do about the crater. They were so exhausted from the fight and cleanup that Joey eventually broke the silence and said they should tell their dad lightning actually did strike.

Euna agreed. When Joey walked off to get refreshments, Euna went into their living room and collapsed on the couch. On the mantel above their fireplace, her dad kept all her old trophies from different tournaments and her report cards from middle school. Nothing recent. Euna knew her father did it to give her an emotional slap. _These are your past successes. What happened?_ But she didn't care. All she could do was stare at the urn in the center of the mantel. Dad had claimed it contained their mother's ashes. She'd been too scared to open it since she found out that was a lie, that her mother, being Demeter, was probably partying it up on Mount Olympus instead of honoring their mantel with her godly presence.

Three weeks ago, Joey told their dad about the nightmares Euna and Joey had been having. He drove them to Camp Half-Blood without explanation, where a centaur told them that they were children of a goddess. Apparently, the whole camp had been having nightmares. Then some giant snake kidnapped an Oracle and they had to save her with four other demigods. Temporarily, it stopped their nightmares, but they restarted a week later.

Dad acted like nothing had happened when they came back. He didn't acknowledge how he knew about Camp Half-Blood or that their mother was a goddess or the minor important fact that _Greek mythology was real._ Joey argued with him about it every chance she got, and she was banned from dancing lessons until she, "remembered how to act like a respectful child."

Euna sighed and rolled onto her back. She'd forgotten the glaive on the ground outside.

"It's a red poppy flower."

She glanced up. Joey shoved a can of sikhye into her face. Euna pulled her feet down so Joey could sit beside her. Joey popped the top of her own tin can and started to sip the rice punch. "The urn. I checked. It's a pressed poppy flower."

"Cool," Euna choked out.

Their dad had lied to them since they were little. Cool was probably an overstatement, but it was the best Euna could come up with.

"I want to stay year-round at Camp Half-Blood," Joey said after a moment. When Euna looked at her, she jutted her chin forward. Recently, Joey dyed the front strip of her bob a brilliant pink, probably in defiance of Dad. The hair made her eye shadow pop. "I'm not afraid of that stupid prophecy. It never said _when_ I'm going to die. If I'm going to die—I—I'm going to at least make this family proud before it happens. You… you said you got it a week ago?"

"Yea," Euna lied. "You shouldn't go back. It's dangerous to be around gods—"

Before she could finish her sentiment, the window to the living room shattered.

 _Irony_ , she thought, _just in time!_

A 200 pound Brit crashed onto their floor and crushed their basil planter. Joey screamed and grabbed for something to throw. When she realized who it was, she quickly set down the daisy planter and ran to his side. Euna followed after, carefully stepping around the shattered glass.

"Calex!" Joey yelped.

He groaned. Instead of clutching the side where he landed, he clutched his stomach. "Bloody unicorn…" he groaned.

Euna glanced up in enough time to see something sparking in their backyard. Although she couldn't get a good look at red and black stallion, she guessed Vinyl Scratch—a unicorn they'd sort of saved from centaurs—was the one nickering in the dark, rainbow sparks sputtering from its broken horn to occasionally light up his eyes. Euna felt the tension release from her shoulders when the unicorn when to graze on the grass they'd _just_ fixed up.

"Either of you have some nectar?" Calex gasped, loud enough to be heard over the squeal of the house alarm.

He looked as okay as someone could look after crashing through a window. There was blood from broken glass shards, and he was probably going to bruise horribly from where he'd turned their planter into modern art. Fortunately, no real damage. Calex wore a bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, his black scarf, a red and black beanie with an _Arsenal_ logo on it, and jeans. None of that was stained with blood. Just his hands.

After they shut off the alarm and gave him some nectar for his bruises, cuts, and stomach—riding Vinyl always made him nauseous—Euna asked, "What are you doing here?" This was somehow less surprising than the hydra, but she figured it was polite to inquire.

"I asked him to pick us up and bring us back to camp," Joey explained.

"Us? To camp?" Euna repeated, glaring. Next time they went to camp, Euna made a mental note to ask Chiron how much nectar it would take to heal a broken arm. If he asked why, she'd tell him it was for family stress relief.

"You didn't need to crash through my window to come get us," Joey said with a wave of the hand. She was blushing.

"I didn't exactly plan on having that mad excuse of a horse toss me," Calex grumbled. He stood, stomped over to the window and shook a fist outside. "You do that again, I'll grind you into a burger!"

Euna could hear Vinyl Scratch huff outside.

"I was fine until he picked a race with some black stallion," Calex said as he stepped back over. Euna frowned, debating on whether or not it would be rude to tell him to take off his shoes. Considering the landmines of former window on their floor, maybe she and Joey were the ones who should consider putting _on_ slippers.

He paused, glancing around their living room. Since the tallest person Euna ever saw in this room was her father, Calex looked huge. His grey eyes stood out brilliantly against his ebony skin. "Sorry about the window but, uh, nice place you got here. You could fit a whole herd of centaurs in your backyard."

"Thanks," Euna said, staring. He seemed different, moving with more confidence. Maybe happier? She couldn't tell.

"I'll go grab my bags!" Joey exclaimed. "We need to get out of here. Dad will be home soon."

"I can't meet him?" Calex asked. He almost looked offended.

"No!" Both Song sister shouted.

They glanced at each other.

"You came in through the window," Euna explained.

"And we aren't allowed to have boy—people over when he's not here," Joey added.

An awkward moment of silence passed. Calex's mouth crinkled, like he wanted to laugh. "Right. No time for tea and cakes then."

Joey dashed up the stairs. Euna could envision the next fight Joey would start with Dad now: "Yea Dad, a son of Eros— _God of_ _ **Desire**_ _—_ came by when you weren't here. He snuck through the window. Also, he's got a hot accent!"

Euna sighed and walked into the kitchen to grab a pad and paper to write a quick, _Hydra broke the window. Went to Camp Half-Blood_. _Will send word if we're gone for long._

"I didn't come here because of Joey's message," Calex said. He had followed her through the house, glancing in admiration at all the pictures of them in various fighting uniforms.

 _Ah good._ _You're not an idiot,_ she thought internally.

Aloud, she said, "Mm?"

"I Iris Messaged Axel to pick up Kally so we could all meet at camp," he continued, mentioning some of the others that had helped save the Oracle a month ago. Euna noted that Calex hadn't said _Pax._ "Piper and I have been chatting and… I think we know what's going on with the nightmares."

Euna set the pen down. She looked at him. From what she knew, no one had told anyone else about their nightmares. None of them had wanted to.

He nodded, like reading her thoughts. "I think they're connected to the Traitor's Prophecy."

* * *

Hey guys! This is the first chapter of the second book in the Traitors of Olympus series, though it will catch you up on the first book as you go. It takes place after the Heroes of Olympus and before Trials of Apollo. This is a teaser chapter, as I will actually start posting weekly towards the beginning of July. Please let me know what you think though! :D I hope you enjoy!


	2. Ajax:Real Gentlemen Use the Window

Two: Ajax

Real Gentlemen Use the Window Entrance

As with many decisions Pax made, he figured this could only end in one of two ways: with a cinema-worthy make out sequence or by getting pushed out a second story window.

He'd made sure to do everything right. Or at least, he did everything the internet told him to do. Well, everything the internet told Axel to do, since Pax had complained loudly that Axel _was supposed_ to advise him on this but Axel had absolutely no experience on the matter so he wasn't fulfilling his brotherly duty. After some arguing and a Nerf gun battle, Axel took the responsibility that was rightfully his.

Axel's feedback went as thus…

One: be so clean Hygieia would let you borrow her toothbrush to scrub between your toes.1 So, Pax had snuck into a Champ High School, broke into a few different gym lockers to borrow fancier products than he'd ever used—ones that would make Aphrodite Cabin gasp at how he smelled better than a double bacon cheeseburger. Then he took a shower and dry-cleaned his favorite outfit. He slipped some earrings and gauges into his ears, something he hadn't done since he and Axel ran away from their dad. He let Axel trim his fohawk—a hairstyle courtesy of Connor and Travis Stoll who shaved a quarter of his hair a few weeks prior while he was sleeping in Cabin Eleven. He even refused to let Hunnie and Baller store dead things inside his duster jacket. Really, he tried to keep the Mist-form weasels out of his jacket in general. Battling rodents didn't really scream "date me."

Two: be yourself, and make sure you've improved yourself to the point where you're confident in that person. Pax couldn't not be Pax—not after what happened _last_ time he wasn't himself. His mother, a goddess, gave him golden apples that let him turn into whoever he wanted. He cringed to think how he'd made an enemy of Will Solace a month ago, when he'd pretended to be Nico Di Angelo, forgot he was pretending to be Nico Di Angelo, and kissed Will's sister. Make enemies with the best healer and guy who will probably save your life one day? Pax should have saved time, walked up to Hades and told him that his Helm of Darkness looked stupid.

Third and lastly: be kind, polite, complimentary, and comforting.

Number two contradicted with number three. It was like having a marriage counselor tell Aphrodite she should be honest, but also give her husband a loving compliment. Just stab a honey badger. It'll end better.

Pax swallowed, checked his hair—which was already rebelling against the jell Axel put in it—and knocked on Kally's window.

For a moment, he wondered if he should go knock on the front door like a proper gentleman would at 10:00 o'clock on a Friday night… Na. There was both a tree to one side of Kally's second story window, and a shed almost directly under it. It was like her parents were giving him their blessing. _Ah, you want to sneak into our daughter's room? You have_ _ **two**_ _options. There's a ladder in the shed if you're feeling really lazy—oh! And a grappling hook if you want to look more adventurous and piraty._

It was now official: if Kally left her window open when the warmer weather of spring came, Pax was going to come dressed in a Jack Sparrow outfit and scale her window with a grappling hook.

Music hummed inside. It got louder, probably to cover his entrance. He grinned when he heard her switch away from a song on a playlist that he had made for her. He was determined to get this girl more into metal, Orpheus Metal to be precise.

The curtains fluttered, then Kally opened the window.

Her hair was still damp from a shower. Instead of looking the color of sunrise, it hung in dark tendrils against her pale skin. Pax caught his breath. He didn't often get to see Kally with her hair down. She wore a dark purple T-shirt that really made her green eyes stand out. Her best friend, Merry, must have given it to her since it read: _Techies, We Do It In the Dark._

"You said you'd Iris Message before coming over," she said, glancing over her shoulder. The door was locked. Her parents were already asleep on the first floor—Pax had checked. Pax knew she was worried about her brother though. Pax didn't know why. _His_ brother supported what they were doing.

Pax fished around in his pocket, withdrawing a drachma. "Oh holy Iris—"

"Get in here before John gets home," she grumbled.

He returned the coin to his pocket and hopped inside. Although he'd meant to alert Kally beforehand, Pax had a hard time focusing on more than one thing at once, especially when Hunnie and Baller had decided to wage war against him for the whole stay-out-of-his-jacket thing. _Weasels…_ he thought, _good at weaseling their way into everything_.

He just wished the phrase, "weaseling into things" wasn't so amply named.

In order to get out of the window sill and into her room, Pax had to crawl over her nightstand. Kally considered her room "small" since she didn't have space for a desk or chair and had to keep her dresser in her closet. All her soccer trophies and _Dice and Drakin_ figurines, a game Kally explained to him in detail the first time he snuck in, were stored on a handmade shelf above her bed. Posters of David de Gea, a goalkeeper for Manchester United and Spain's national team, and fantasy maps colored her walls.

Pax loved the space. It just meant, when he sat on the edge of her bed, the only spot she could sit was beside him. It was up there on the list of things that made Pax happy, almost as up there as the time Hermes stole all the toilet paper in Olympus… right before Zeus went to use the bathroom.

Pax sat on the bed.

When Kally adjusted her glasses, pressing them further up her face, Pax could see how deep her blush was. "Hi," she said, torn between reflexive hospitality and justified irritation at his unannounced arrival. He _hoped_ some part of Kally was doing an internal happy dance too. After a moment's hesitation, she sat beside him.

He'd have to make her angry enough to forget to be shy. He glanced around the room.

On her nightstand, he was pleased to see the letters he'd been sending her. An apology letter about the whole _sorry I pretended to be your half-brother's Sexy Goth boyfriend and kissed you_ and a few others about how excited he and Axel were to find a decent abandoned house to squat in.2 Really, Axel wrote the letters. Pax's dyslexia was so bad, he couldn't even spell Kally's name. He'd tried at the first letter for a good hour, in Ancient Greek and English, before crying to Axel for help. Unfortunately, this meant Axel edited out quite a bit of Pax's charm during the scribing process. Apparently relaying the story of how he and a child from the Hephaestus cabin streaked through a homophobia rally was "inappropriate for a letter to a lady."

"Calex sent me," Pax said, leaning a little closer.

"He sent Axel," she automatically corrected. "Is he okay?"

Pax wanted to roll his eyes. Calex thinking Pax was an unreliable messenger? Ba! Next time Pax found himself in the Underworld, he'd be sure to deliver a message from Calex to one of the Furies, informing her that Calex found her quite attractive and he'd fancy a date. For now, he took in a deep breath. "It's… pretty serious."

Kally's eyes widened.

"He said he understands that everyone makes mistakes…" Pax touched her shoulder gingerly. "And that it isn't too late to support a better football team."3

The words took a moment to sink in. Then Kally smacked away Pax's hand and scowled. _There!_ Pax thought, _Now she won't act all shy—all done like a perfect gentleman._

"Did you even talk to him?" she asked, glaring at the floor.

"Some nonsense about dreams and prophecies—it sounded really boring." Pax shrugged. He reached up, and took the golden statue of an Argonaut off a shelf. "You know, if you're getting more comfortable with the fact that you stole this, the Stoll brothers and I could get you into some intense work. Stuff involving glue, some hairbrushes from the Aphrodite cabin, and several glorious seconds of internet fame."

"I didn't steal-Mr. Paine said I could keep it. He's been training me," she added the last part quietly and Pax got the feeling she didn't want further questioning on it. Mr. Paine was Kally's chemistry teacher and a retired Roman centurion. Kally said he was nicer than he let on, but Pax didn't want to test this theory, since-the first time he met the man-Pax and Axel had darted him unconscious and dragged him into a boy's bathroom stall.

Kally pulled her legs onto the bed to cross them pretzel style. Her knee pressed into his, proving—to Pax—she was either oblivious or a foul temptress. "I take it Axel is waiting in the van?" she asked.

 _Oblivious._

"Probably valiantly defending your house from some monster or another, but yea, waiting," he said.

"Are you two still arguing?"

This brought Pax's attention away from pressing his leg slightly more into Kally's. He frowned. "I apologized… but he still…" _still wants to get rid of me._ Pax knew he'd start to cry again if he said it. Axel had been trying to convince him to stay at Camp Half-Blood for weeks, because "it's too dangerous for you to go after Dad." Since the lava wall, sword practice with sharpened blades, and capture the flag with loosy-goosy rules on the whole "minimal maiming" thing was much better. It was. It was a lot safer, but Pax didn't care. He was Axel's cheerleader. Axel wouldn't eat nearly enough candy without him there.

"Did you ever find out if the whole your-mom-and-Apollo thing was an assault or an affair?" Pax asked.

Kally hugged herself and shook her head. She'd been trying to get the courage to ask her mother about it for the last month.

Pax puffed up his cheeks full of air and popped them. He sure knew how to put a girl at ease. _Hey, you know how your mom either cheated on your dad or was attacked by a god? Yea, that's cool—do you want to go to the movies after this?_

Their openness about everything had been nice in a sad way. A month ago, Kally swore an oath on the River Styx to keep his secrets—well, he tricked her into it, but that wasn't the point. He'd been able to talk to her about stuff he couldn't say to anyone else. From what he gathered of Kally's situation, without Merry around, she didn't have anyone to talk to either. He'd come to think of her as a best friend of sorts, a really hot, incredibly kind best friend.

Pax wanted to make her feel better, but his skill level at making people comfortable and happy was the same as a demonic clown's.

On impulse, he said, "You have a smudge on your glasses."

That gave her a distraction. Confusion scrunched her face up as she withdrew her hands from around her waist. Kally took off her glasses and started to polish them with the ends of her shirt. There was nothing on them, but—as he suspected—she didn't realize that.

Pax tried not to look at her exposed belly button. He swallowed, edging a hand over to touch the frame of the glasses before she could put them on. "How blind are you?" he asked. "Are we talking Tiresias levels of blind?"

She shrugged. "I can see up close, but everything far away is a blur."

Pax gave her a devilish grin. "Daughter of Apollo!" he said in his best furniture commercial bravado, "God of Archery! … Nearsighted."

She shoved him with her shoulder and Pax felt his heart make an escape attempt through his throat. "Shut up," Kally whispered with a small smile. "I get enough of that from Will and Kayla."

That was one of his favorite things to see: Kally's smile when she was comfortable. "How close do you have to be to see me clearly?" Pax wondered. Even to him, his voice sounded too serious. The smell of mint and eucalyptus—likely her shampoo—made him feel drowsy.

Kally turned to face him. With their shoulders touching, Pax was close enough to feel her breath gently tickle his cheek. Her face reddened, making a nice contrast with her eyes. She likely had the same realization he had about their proximity. "This is close enough," she murmured.

Pax decided later he'd lost some of his ability for proper decision making, though he was about as skilled at good decision making as he was at comforting people and at underwater basket weaving. He promised himself he wouldn't screw this up though, even if the opportunity was stellar. _Eros, lead me not into temptation, I can find the way myself,_ he thought. That was the last thought.

Then he leaned down, brushing his mouth against the skin behind her ear. The smell of her shampoo and the soft moisture of her flesh were intoxicating. Pax felt his fingers twitch to hold her hand, dodging the frames of her glasses. "Is this…" he repeated her question as a quiet exhale into her ear. "…close enough?"

One of Kally's hands escaped his grip to touch her lips: her nervous reflex. But she didn't flinch away. Pax traced his lips along her jaw, finding her fingertips hesitantly blocking the path to her mouth. He glanced up at her eyes, kissing the tip of her index finger, like it would remove the barrier. "I really screwed up our first kiss… please let me fix it," he begged. He wasn't supposed to. He'd promised himself not to get too touchy.

Slow enough to make him whine, Kally's hand dropped from her face to hold his hand. He couldn't read her expression, but he gasped when she timidly pressed her mouth to his.

Pax exhaled deeply, leaning further against her. She was new to this and he had to remind himself not to overwhelm her. _Keep your hands to yourself_ , _keep your hands to yourself,_ he kept repeating, trying to focus on clutching her fingers instead of how the wetness of her hair felt cool against his arm, how minty she tasted, and how badly he wanted to see her waistline again.

He needed to stop. As he withdrew, Pax nipped her upper lip, leaving Kally's face a more brilliant shade than Santa's favorite set of PJs.

Pax slipped an arm around her waist, hoping that her dad wouldn't come in with a machete to cut his arm off, as he imagined any sensible father would do. He'd practiced this in his head. Granted, in his head, he looked a little closer to Thor in the Avengers and had anime-style roses that appeared whenever he spoke but, eh, at least he was clean.

Kally looked confused but didn't pull away. Pax swallowed. "I don't want to be just some guy who sneaks into your room at night when your parents are sleeping and tries to commandeer kisses," he said. "I want to be your _boyfriend_ who sneaks into your room at night when your parents are sleeping and tries to commandeer kisses."

She looked at the ground and pulled one hand from him to put her glasses on. "I shouldn't have done that. I can't trust you."

He was furious that his immediate response was an affirming, _Ah, you're wising up Cyclops._

In his head, her reaction had been much more dramatic and involved a lot more hugging, illegal fireworks, and his brother poking through the window to give him a high-five. He tried not to show any disappointment.

Pax shrugged, trying to force one of his devil grins. Normally that expression drove her nuts, though he hoped the kiss had already done that. "We're demigods," he reminded. "Our lives are supposed to be complicated, not make sense, and involve a lot of near-death experiences and villainous monologues."

That uplifting reassurance didn't seem to convince her. She pulled away from him and stood up. Pax stayed on her bed, mentally enumerating the ways this could have gone differently-like having a giant cow crash through the ceiling.

"We shouldn't leave Axel waiting outside," Kally said shakily, gathering her Argonaut statue, a canteen of nectar, and some dried beef strips she kept as treats for Hunnie and Baller. She shoved everything into a messenger bag and went to the night stand to slip in her contacts.

Pax popped his cheeks one more time before he stood. He shouldn't push it—

"I'm not going to get a direct answer, am I?" he asked.

Her shoulders shook with a laugh. "I didn't think you liked direct answers."

Although she was still facing the night stand, Pax could hear the mischievous half-smile she occasionally wore around him. "That's evil," he said with admiration. "I've taught you well young Cyclops. Now go forth and spread this chaos."

When she turned around, she was in mid-eye roll. Kally shoved a packet of Reese's Sticks into his torso, likely as a peace offering, before heading for the window. "Come on. I want to see what's going on with Calex."

Scaling down from the window was easy. They reached the bottom and Pax was contemplating whether or not he wanted to try slipping an arm around Kally's shoulder as they walked.

Axel had parked in Kally's yard, partially obscured from the house by a cluster of pines. Although Kally's family had enough land to keep the Great God Pan happy, someone would definitely notice if they parked on her driveway, and likely call the creep watch. The Pax boys' mobile home was a ragged, white pharmaceutical van, with the words _Pax Extraction Team_ written in bright colors on the side, though most of the paint had been singed off in a dragon attack. The vehicle was about as inconspicuous as a homeless man holding a "free candy" sign outside a kindergarten.

They were almost there. Pax was trying not to replay the last ten minutes in his head, but that was like asking Tumblr not to post spoilers. Pax jumped when someone by the house snapped, "So, _you're_ the guy she's been sneaking out to see."

They froze. Pax glanced at Kally to see if this was some harmless prank a senile neighbor liked to play on high schoolers that were creeping out to make out, but she looked as startled as he. They turned to see four figures approaching that Pax definitely hadn't noticed before.

"Monsters?" Pax asked, fingering the darts on his utility belt.

"My brother and his friends," Kally responded like that was _way_ worse.

 _So…. Monsters_ , Pax decided. _Just the squishy, first level difficulty kind._

The four guys formed a horseshoe around them, making Pax giddy to be in-what at least looked like-the start of a bad high school anime. Hopefully Pax would be one of those where the dashing, bad-boy comedy relief protagonist has a happily ever after in the end. Not one where he dies.

These guys were closer to Axel's age though maybe more in their twenties. They were athletic, laughing, and—from a stumble in one of their steps—might have been hitting the adult grape juice. Each had a hockey stick slung over one shoulder, which Pax had to commend. At least they weren't stereotypically wielding baseballs and crow bars.

"What do you want John?" Kally snapped. Her voice shook.

One took an extra step towards Pax. In the dim moonlight and what little porch light filtered this far, Pax could see this guy was the smallest, only a little taller than Pax. He had dark hair and a tattoo of a crucifix peeking out along his neck. Pax was pretty sure this was the one related to Kally, judging by the skin tone, the one Pax liked to call _couleur de transparent_.

"Go back inside Kally," John told her.

Kally stared. Once she comprehended what he said, she stuttered, "Wha—you—you used to sneak out all the time—"

Two of the other guys laughed and pushed at each other, like they were reminiscing over past bromances, worthy of epic, swaggy ballads.

"Remember that time at the Battlefield—" the tallest chattered excitedly.

"And the other time, behind the old Walmar-"

"Shut up." John scowled. He apparently did not have an acquired taste for swaggy ballad appreciation. Once the others had quieted, John turned back to Kally. "Yea, I did sneak out a lot," he agreed. He jabbed his hockey stick at Pax. "I know exactly why you're sneaking out. I was a sixteen-year-old-boy once too."

Pax gave him an innocent grin and nudged Kally. "Aw, he knows it was recently my birthday."

She shot him her _don't make this worse_ glance that he'd become so accustomed to ignoring. She started to say, "No—this is stupid—I'm just—"

John's eyes drifted past her to the Paxmobile. He swore enough that Pax's grandmother would have jammed a bar of soap down John's gullet so he'd hiccup bubbles for the next week. "Look at that van! It has abduction written all over it!" he cried.

"Actually, it says ' _extraction_.' Minute difference," Pax corrected. "Kids would be _way_ less willing to come with us if it said abduction."

John's hockey stick jammed forward. Pax stepped backwards, so the strike missed him by inches. The motion would have probably left him gasping on the ground if he hadn't moved.

"John!" Kally shouted. "Stop it!"

His friends had stopped laughing. They lifted their hockey sticks up and tensed, ready to advance. John took another step towards Pax. "Listen, you little, Mexican creep, I don't want to see you on my family's land ever again and nowhere near my sist—"

Pax tried to restrain his anger. Already, he had a hard time controlling his demigod powers, but he didn't want to kill one of Kally's brothers. That would look bad whenever he got to meet her parents. _Oh hi, my name is Ajax Pax. You may have read about me in your son's obituary._

"Hey," Pax objected. "For starters, I'm from Southern Belize, not Mexico, a common misconception for idiots—"

This time, John slammed his hockey stick at the side of Pax's head.

He didn't need to block; Kally caught it, shoved the stick in the ground and brought her foot down hard enough to snap off the end.

John and his friends gawked at her like that was horrifying.

Pax thought it was super hot. Then Pax realized how much she was trembling and how upset she was. This might have been the first time she stood up to her brother or any member of her family.

"Kally…" John hissed. "Get out of the way."

Until those words, Kally's yard had been rustling with fallen leaves, the branches of the pines, and likely adorable, nocturnal creatures out for their breakfast murder. Pax hadn't noticed the noise until the forest went silent. At John's command, the leaves, animals, and wind seemed to take a collective gasp behind Pax and Kally.

Pax knew better than to think John had anything to do with it.

A blast of chilled November air released behind them, flipping Kally's hair over her shoulder, making the boys cover their eyes to avoid a flurry of decaying leaves. The pressure around them dropped and Pax felt his ears pop. A nauseating smell, sickeningly sweet and metallic, made Pax shudder. He knew it was chocolate and blood. _Oh Johnny and band,_ Pax thought, _you done messed up._

John and his friends exchanged nervous glances.

"Pax..?" Kally asked cautiously.

Pax didn't bother answering; he knew what was coming and-as any good performer-he knew a surprise introduction could make half the show.

A car door slammed behind them. Neither was willing to take a look away from John and his friends, but Pax could hear the soft crunch of Axel's boots on the leaves.

At the movement, John managed to shake off the ominous weather warnings like the best hero in a horror film. "There are _two_ of you?" John exclaimed. He hefted his broken hockey stick. "You are _way_ too old to be hanging out with my sister! Kally, what have you gotten yourself in—"

"First…" Axel interrupted, though the voice was deeper than Axel's. Gravely and reverberant. Kally risked breaking eye contact with her brother to see if it really was Axel.

Pax inhaled sharply. _It's not that monster…_ he reminded himself. John was too small game for Axel to don _that_. He glanced back, expecting something even scarier than Ronald McDonald himself.

But Axel looked normal-mostly. Axel typically twisted his Mist mask to have short-cropped dark hair, dark, intense eyes, and bronze skin that left people guessing his country of origin. Whenever asked, Pax would tell them Axel was born of the primordial awesome and remained dormant until the world was ready for him.

Now, Axel looked taller. His hands were at his side, but Pax knew exactly how quickly he could access the swords, daggers, and knives dangling all over his surplus army jacket and dark jeans. His eyes glistened a reflective, predatorial gold.

Pax snagged Kally's hand so she'd look away from Axel's face. "Keep your eyes on John," he instructed.

Stunned, she glanced at Pax, giving the unspoken, _excuse me kind sir, but what the Hades?!_

Pax didn't care. As long as she wasn't looking at Axel.

His footsteps stopped just behind Pax, opposite the side Kally was on. Then he spoke, "First… Ajax, you're going to apologize to John for making him scared for his sister's safety."

The tone was so similar to their father's, Pax forgot to retaliate… for two seconds. _Verbal back-stabbing backstabber!_ he thought before snapping, "Like Tartarus I—"

Axel's low growl silenced him. Pax didn't want to tremble like he was five, but he was shaking as violently as the time he and Matt agreed to watch _The Conjuring_ in a dark closet after chugging three Red Bulls.

That was Axel's big, tough military voice, the voice he used as Luke's right hand man, the one he spoke when he wanted to say, _you're no longer my brother, but a soldier_. It sounded just like their father. Some people thought about rainbows and kittens when they reflected on their family. Pax had nostalgia like that… but the traumatic kind. Evil nostalgia? Or was it still just nostalgia? Regardless, Pax didn't dare look at his brother now. He tried to visualize Axel doing this whole exchange with a chicken propped on his head. It made Pax feel better and feel a little hungry for some McNuggets.

"And John—pleased to meet you—" There was a brief pause were Pax could guarantee his brother bowed his head slightly.

John and band just looked bewildered. The tall chatty one whispered, "What's wrong with his eyes?"

Axel acted like no one had spoken. "You're going to apologize to my brother, myself, and Kally for insinuating the friends she chose are bad people," the voice not like Axel's ordered.

John and his friends stared at him. Two in the back exchanged a glance, seeming to realize numbers might mean nothing in this fight.

Then John managed a tense, forced laugh that sounded more like the cry of a cornered piglet. He clung to his broken stick like it would do anything to Axel, other than give him a back scratcher or a toothpick, depending on the type of shindig this turned into.

"You're just some guy…" he muttered, clearly unconvinced. Louder, he repeated, "You're just some guy."

His friends joined in on the laughter. It was hollow. None of them looked confident anymore and they weren't pushing each other around in the playful stupor of, _hee hee, let's beat up this tiny, devilish demigod._

Maybe it was Axel's weapons.

To John's credit, he stood his ground. The fear on his face started to dissipate as he snarled, "You and your brother can get off my land and never come back. Who do you think you-"

"I am Axel Pax," he stated. The air dropped in temperature. Pax's ears popped again. He tightened his grip on Kally's hand. He could hear the flick of a lighter and something blue glowed behind them.

Axel continued, "And I do not rest until I have eaten the gods of my enemies. Do you wish to become an enemy of mine Jonathan Cassand?"

Slowly, the comment sank in. Pax felt Kally's hand tremble.

The bravado died. Two of John's friends took uncertain steps back. John paled. "Wha—"

"I like your sister and would never hurt her," the gravelly rasp assured. "However, you are a stranger, and I have no qualms devouring strangers when they insult my family without proper cause."

Pax gave them about three seconds before John and his friends booked it.

They lasted two.

An inhuman, throaty snarl thundered from Axel and made Pax _very_ happy he'd used the bathroom before entering Kally's house. Apparently one of John's friends hadn't.

The friends ran, the tallest one screaming, "Oh God! It's a real monster!"

John backed up and stumbled to the ground. His jaw hung open in horror and awe, the broken stick lying useless beside him. Pax kinda wanted to see how bad a brain freeze he'd get if you jammed some ice cream into that gaping mouth.

When Axel finally stepped forward and into view, the lighter was gone and his hands were slipping over his ears, like he was adjusting his hair. Pax knew better, especially since Axel muttered in Maya as he walked.

He looked normal again, with dark eyes. Today's shirt read: _I Ordered a Senate Meeting at Camp Half-Blood. I Got One._

When Axel continued past Kally and Pax, towards her brother, Kally made a sound of protest and tried to intercept him. Pax dragged her back. Axel wouldn't _actually_ hurt him. Well… probably wouldn't hurt him. Like 50/50.

Axel knelt beside John. "You understand that your sister is old enough to make her own decisions and you need to respect her choices, right?" he asked in a much less gravelly, killer voice.

John glanced at Kally, who might have been reconsidering just that question. John nodded.

"And that it would be unwise to mention this to anyone?"Axel asked softly.

John swallowed and nodded more vigorously. His head might pop off if Axel asked him a third question.

"Run along," Axel commanded.

John skidded a few times when he sprinted back to the house. Cussing mingled with a door slam when he reached the entrance.

Axel stood up and put his hands in his pockets. He looked an uncomfortable amount like a _normal_ eighteen-year-old.

Pax had one thing to say to him and it wasn't to gloat that he never had to apologize to John. He puffed up his chest and crossed his arms. "I can handle my own fights. I am small—but mighty!"

Axel walked over to where Kally stood, dumbfounded, and Pax stood, pouting. He smiled faintly, and Pax realized his brother would have loved John to come back outside for _Round Two: Cower!_

Axel sighed. "I know you can, but you don't know when you don't _need_ to fight." He turned to Kally. "Hey Kall." He gave her a quick hug that brought back the red in her face and broke whatever fear she'd mustered. "It is good to see you. Sorry about your brother."

"What—uh—what was that? Your voice…" she trailed off, lifting a hand up to touch her lower lip in concern

"A trick of the Mist," Axel explained. "I altered what he was seeing to scare him…" He tilted his head. "Your hair looks nice."

If one of Kally's godly powers was to turn into a lobster or Coca Cola can, she was trying her hardest and was getting pretty close to the right color. Pax would have to congratulate her on the progress once he got over his gloom. Neither Kally nor Axel had shown any direct interest in each other, but something Aphrodite said to Pax a month ago nagged the back of his mind, _"The person you love is going to fall in love with your best friend._ " He had hoped Aphrodite would reconsider, but she'd said that _before_ Axel tried to decapitate the goddess. Now, if she reconsidered, she might do something worse, like make him fall in love with a rock or a cactus or Jason Grace.4

As they walked towards the van, Kally frowned. "Is John going to think you guys are demons because of… whatever you just showed him? He'll get the head of our parish to talk to me if that's what you made him see."

Pax sighed dramatically and put his hands behind his head. "I hope not. Exorcists don't work on us, but they do make quite a fuss."

Kally stopped mid-way through pulling up her hair to stare at him.

He winked his yellow eye at her. He loved when she couldn't tell if he was teasing or reminiscing. Out of the corner of his gaze, he could see Axel's lip twitch back a smile.

"We should hurry," Axel said, corralling Kally back into a walk. "And not just because of Calex."

"Oh, most mysterious one?" Pax asked. He wondered if something had happened to make Axel do that to the boys. After all, Pax could have just darted all of them, though that wouldn't have been nearly as good a story for later.

Axel pulled a Smartphone out of his pocket and grinned. "Matt put up a new tweet. He said the Hephaestus campers finished crafting our ride. We're ready to start our quest."

1 Goddess of Hygiene. She'd probably use a porcupine to floss before doing letting Pax scrub his feet with her toothbrush… I don't think Pax ever takes his combat boots off. Does he even have feet? What if he has… little Pax paws….

2 During _Whispers of a Snake_ , Pax pretended to be Nico Di Angelo to get information out of Kally. He may have… forgotten who he was when they were talking… and… you know it goes when you have godly powers, right? You just kinda forget what you're doing sometimes. Right Zeus?

3 Calex is a huge Arsenal football hooligan. Kally passively supports Manchester United. Calex doesn't understand how such a nice girl could make such a grievous mistake.

4 Disclaimer: the author of this series has no hate for Jason Grace. But Pax does. A lot of hate. With sharp pointy daggers and weasel fangs.


	3. Axel: At Least it Isn't Pink

Three: Axel

At Least It isn't Pink

Axel wanted to laugh. Honestly, he did. But he also wanted to punch Matthias Sverre Hanson in his smug, Nordic face.

The child of Hephaestus leaned backwards against their new… ride.

"May I present," Matt exclaimed, outstretching his arms, "the Golden Ass!"

A golden donkey, probably the size of a compact car, brayed beside him. It had the saddest, most pathetic eyes of any automaton ever made. Matt patted the poor creature's rear.

Pax was laughing so hard that he fell over. Kally had a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to cover her giggles and keep her gaze away from Axel.

They were parked just outside the camp's magical barrier. Matt had demanded he bring their transportation out for display because he claimed they'd be _so_ enchanted with it.

Axel pressed the fingertips of his right hand into his temple. He was scared his head might roll away out of shear exacerbation.

"Why did you make it a donkey?" Axel sighed. He'd managed not to say his first three thoughts, all of which would have probably caused the child of Hephaestus to set off whatever awesome defense mechanism the automaton had. This donkey _had better_ have an awesome defense mechanism to make up for the fact that it was a donkey.

Matt had pulled similar stunts before at Camp Othrys. Like when Kronos decided he wanted a war chariot to bring with him to Olympus. The chariot they came up with was fully loaded with rocket launchers, spikes, and other trick explosives gadgets. It was also pink. Matt claimed the hardware store was out of every other color. So Kronos didn't end up with an awesome chariot to take to Olympus.

The child of Hephaestus rubbed his hands together, grinning. "Well, you _are_ supposed to be doing the Trials of Psyche according to the traitor's prophecy. I thought it fitting."

Axel continued to stare at him. He almost wished Matt feared him as much as Chris did.

"You only gave me a month!" Matt complained, dropping his hands to his sides. "Plus, I knew you would get all offended if I didn't take necessary precautions." He gestured towards the rear of the donkey.

Axel _really_ didn't want to look. Each step he took made him hate himself more. Pax manage to pull himself together enough to have Kally help him to his feet. They all circled around to the donkey's backside.

There was a disclaimer on the back:

 _Not tested on mythological creatures. No dyes. Hypoallergenic. Made in U.S.A. Your purchase supports local demigods! Not blessed by Aphrodite._

Despite himself, Axel cracked a smile until that last line. "Who told y—" he started to say, but choked on the words. A month ago, Axel may have made a minor mistake when he tried to decapitate the Goddess of Love. At least, Pax said he had tried. All Axel could remember from the incident was groveling at Aphrodite's feet, crushed by shear humiliation, shame, and godly charm. He'd once vowed to eviscerate all the Olympians, but one strike from her scarf crumbled him with a sickening twist of hatred and love. It made for a good potential conversation with Piper McLean though, " _I know your mom—funny story! I tried to collect her head as a war trophy and now she haunts my dreams to take me on nonconsensual dates. Weird how that works, right?"_

Although the awful adoration had decreased with time, only one person knew Axel still had problems with the Goddess of Love.

Pax became incredibly interested in the donkey's tail. "Man, this metal is shiny. Did you ever think metal could be so shiny?"

Axel tried to snatch his ear, but Pax ducked, squeaked, and hid behind Kally. Kally stepped to the side, but Pax mimicked her movement.

"This was a prototype," Matt said far too loud for the conversation; however, a blow horn wouldn't have distracted Axel from plotting vengeance against his little brother. Next chance he got, Axel was switching Pax's _Camp Othrys_ shirt out for a nice purple _I swing Team Jason_ shirt _._ "-a prototype we were working with to cart away latrine uh—produce as fertilizer. We definitely were _not_ going to toss said waste into the ocean since, uh, that would be wrong…" Matt glanced around, but—fortunately for him—Percy Jackson was probably at some boarding school for all they knew, failing a class while freaking out over whether or not New Rome would accept his transcripts or the afterschool curriculum of, _saved the world twice._ Once Matt was certain Percy wasn't around to enact oceanly policing, Matt continued, "But uh—it can move really fast and cover the distance you need."

Axel's fingers slipped from his temple to the bridge of his nose. "Oh Titans… our transport…" he refused to say the actual species, "…animal was supposed to be used for Long John maintenance?"

Matt shrugged. "We prefer to call it Hygieia Hydraulics—for the alliteration. But yes. For Hygieia Hydraulics. Now, to attach it to your van horse and buggy style, we'll need to lower your suspension to avoid tipping and shed some weight—"

Contrary to what Matt probably thought about Axel's ability to maintain attention, he'd stopped listening after the words, "your van." That van had survived recruiting demigods, circus tours, Triple A assassinations, and Pax's pet weasels. Axel did _not_ want it tied up to a Hygieia Hydraulics Maintenance automaton.

When Axel started listening again, Kally had her hand clamped over her mouth. She was trying desperately not to laugh at the super hero stance Matt had taken. "I thought we should call this ass Luke," he ended.

Pax giggled, stroking the pathetic donkey's back, probably trying to scour for inspiration; Axel _knew_ Pax practiced pathetic expressions for when he pissed off people bigger than him. "Is it because he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders?" Pax asked smugly.

Axel scowled. "That's not funny."

He remembered Luke's and his argument over whether or not Luke should hold the sky. How furious he'd been that Luke was willing to sacrifice his life on a gamble. _"Humans are selfish,_ " Axel had snapped at Luke.

" _Annabeth is different. You'll see. She'll save me,"_ Luke had said while walking towards Atlas's burden like it was nothing.

Matt looked appalled at Pax's assumption and Axel's anger. "No—I meant after Lucius. Trials of Psyche… Eros and Psyche's story..?" When Pax scratched the donkey under the chin and Axel crossed his arms, Matt threw his arms up, "Oh forget it! Augh—well—that's the 'thank you' for your idea." Matt jabbed Pax in the rib cage.

Pax grabbed his ribs, confused. "The one about the talking rabbits or—"

"About using the Silver Festus's fire to open Bunker Nine. This is the first time we've been in there since Leo disappeared!" Matt's chubby cheeks dimpled until he resembled a chipmunk more than a person. When he tapped a satchel he'd brought—supposedly containing a harness for the automaton-his smile vanished. He rubbed his hands together, nervously. "I'll uh—put the item I owe you into your van when I'm working on your suspension."

Kally glanced between Matt and Pax, then slowly frowned. Axel knew she hated when they kept secrets from her but this was a Pax family matter. They'd called in the debt Matt owed them for all the times they'd saved his life. In return, Axel and Pax asked for a mythical artifact rumored to be in Bunker Nine.

It must have been in Matt's bag. Such a useful item. Attaching the Golden Ass to his van and naming it after Axel's old friend—none of it would matter if they had _that_. _The Golden Net_ : the item Hephaestus had used to trap Aphrodite and Ares on his bed. Supposedly, an item that could capture _any_ god, second—only maybe—to Hera's throne.

Pax's mother had started pushing Pax to get it months ago. Normally, Axel disagreed with that wretched goddess, but they needed that net.

After Kronos's army fell and they fled from Santiago's den, they'd been on the run, driving from town to town, state to state, squatting at abandoned homes, and performing tricks for food money. Soon, they wouldn't have to run anymore. Soon, Axel would be able to destroy everything in his path, so he could craft a safer, purer world for him and his brother.


	4. Axel: It Could be Worse

Four: Axel

I was Going to Say it Could be Worse, Then You Showed Up

Merry showed up in enough time to save the lives of Pax and Matt.

Pax tried to help Matt harness the van to the donkey, the way one would harness the fiercest of war chariots to anything other than a donkey. Pax mostly got in the way since he was so giddy about the ass and saying that word without being reprimanded for cursing in front of Kally. Matt was instructing them on the maintenance of the automaton. Much like super villain doomsday devices, the Hephaestus children had learned to plant auto-shut down mechanisms into their automatons for when they inevitably went haywire. This one had a small gem hidden in the back of the donkey's mane that could be removed.

The gem mane isn't what caused Axel to contemplate fratricide. It was when they talked about painting the donkey _and_ his van pink, like Kronos's war chariot.

That was when Merry sauntered into view. Because they'd parked further down Farm Road at Matt's encouragement— to avoid tempting Peleus the dragon with a metal donkey sandwich—she wasn't quite as obvious as she would have been at the crest of the hill. Kally did a double take on seeing her. Axel refrained from grinning but was pleased to see Kally's face light up with elation.

"Merry! Merry!" she shouted and sprinted through the camp's barrier to greet her best friend. Merry was _much_ bigger than Kally. The Indian girl standing at least 5'10, only a few inches shy of Axel. Her green parka was perfect for the November exterior, but must have been warm inside the camp's weather controlled borders. Not even that jacket could hide her curves. Merry adored playing the _see how you can sit to make Axel uncomfortable_ game. The few times he'd seen her, she would openly announce the game, then lounge as close to him as she could get without him moving.

When Kally got within tackling distance, Merry put her hands up, "Mmm, girl, I can't swing you around romance style—" to deter Kally from a proper takedown.

Instead, Kally slowed and hugged her. Axel was sure he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

"How've you been sweetie?" Merry asked, burrowing against the tiny redhead.

"I've missed you," was all Kally could say.

Axel frowned. Now that Merry had permanently moved to Camp Half-Blood as a year-rounder, he wondered if Kally had any other friends in Virginia? Euna and Joey lived close by, but they didn't go to the same school. Axel made a mental note that—after this—he'd assure Kally more frequent visits from the Pax brothers.

Pax dropped one of Matt's hammers—conveniently on the mechanic's foot—and raced to change the girls' touching moment into a _Pax uses puppy eyes until he is included_ moment. Without hesitation, he hugged both of them, ignoring Matt's cursing. "How gracious of you, Merry, to grace us with your merriment!" Pax cried. He clucked his tongue at his voice of verb. "Ah, man, where is Jason Grace when you _actually_ need him?"

They separated. Kally rubbed her face against her jacket sleeve, but the blotchy redness of her face gave away her prior tears, likely worsened by the embarrassment of crying. Merry gave her a caring _we'll talk later_ look, then politely directed the subject from the other girl's breakdown. They seemed to have some unspoken pride-pact about diverting attention when one of them cried.

"I'm sure his handsome self is around here somewhere," Merry said. "Now, his other handsome self, Mr. Rupin McKenzie," she feigned Calex's British accent, "and the two Song sisters might have hit some turbulence and be a bit delayed."

Axel stepped towards them but stopped just outside the camp's border. Most people thought the border was invisible; Axel could see it, like the Mist had taken a bath and plopped a shimmery, filmy bubble over Camp Half-Blood. Axel felt like it would pop if he walked forward, but he knew better. He knew it was designed to keep the likes of him out and wondered if his entrance last time was a one time thing.

He focused his gaze back through the barrier, to his friends and little brother on the other side. This was what he wanted—for Pax to be safe in here, safe from Santiago, safe—

 _ **Safe from us**_ **.**

Axel tried to shake the voice of the Leonis Caput out of his head. _Not now—not now—_

He didn't want the memories tucked inside Hecate's helmet to crawl out, to slither into his thoughts, and crumble him to his knees. Not in front of the camp. Not in front of Merry, Kally, and Matt. Those were private burdens.

When he didn't collapse, he exhaled in relief. He frisked his pockets for a packet of cigarettes only to find Pax had replaced them with gum.

When he looked up, Pax and Kally were staring at him through the Mist barrier. His jaw tightened. He hated being the subject of worry. He could see her mouth go to form the words, "Are you okay?" but he beat her to it.

"I know," he said, trying to reorient himself. He popped whatever weird gum Pax had picked into his mouth: blueberry this time. Where did he even _find_ blueberry? "Calex texted me that they're having…" Axel glanced back to where Matt was cursing at Luke the Donkey for sitting on the hammer that Pax had previously dropped on his foot. At least he wasn't mad at Pax anymore. "… equestrian problems. They had to take a bus."

Merry put her hands on her hips, oblivious to Pax and Kally's concern. "He _texted_ you? Oh, so _you're_ allowed to have a phone? Mmmm hmmm. Didn't Pax throw Kally's out a window since it was 'too dangerous' for her to have one?"

Once Pax decided Axel was okay, he broke into a smile and slid an arm around Kally's shoulder. "I did valiantly save you from a life of Tumblr, social justice warriors, and other monsters. You're welcome."

Kally blinked, blushed, and glared at Pax. Axel could tell Pax was _incredibly_ pleased she didn't shove him off. "I still don't have a phone and I can't exactly Iris Message my parents when I miss the school bus."

Everyone jumped when a conch horn blew, signaling breakfast.

"Someone needs to work out a payment plan for Kally's new phone as we walk to the pavilion," Merry sang. She laced her fingers behind her back and hummed a jazzy tune, taking a step toward food.

Kally and Pax hesitated, glancing over at Axel. Pax looked hopeful; Kally, concerned.

Matt cursed in Norwegian, kicking the donkey.

"I'll stay behind to help Matt with the van," Axel supplied.

Merry whirled back to examine him. "You're not an automaton right?" she asked.

Axel startled. What would make her think that? Then he realized how rarely he ate around the others. "I have food in the van," he explained. It wasn't a total lie. They did have some food in the Pax mobile. Most of it probably wasn't even expired.

Merry grinned crookedly. "Yea, I'm sure snack bars are _great_ for a growing boy like you."

Pax stifled a giggle. Axel wondered if he'd commiserated with Merry to tease Axel into camp. He and Kally would need to start supervising Merry and Pax before the gods themselves destroy them so their combined powers of annoyance couldn't become too strong.

When Axel's only response was to sigh, Merry's grin turned mischevious. "Besides, somebody special wants to talk to you."

For a pained heartbeat, Axel visualized the dark, cold gaze of Reyna. It was an unrealistic, masochistic hope. As far as Reyna was concerned, she only knew Axel Pax as the strange, young man who had helped the Romans take out the Silver Festus and a troop of Greek demigods. After reminding him that the Twelfth Legion was always looking for valiant fighters, she had probably forgotten him. She wouldn't be here.

It was probably Dionysus, debating on whether or not he wanted to kill Axel or drive him mad. He could envision the wine god now, _"On Fridays, I usually turn people into dolphins, but you don't strike me as a finny kind of guy."_

From the grin on Merry's face, Axel could tell it was pointless asking. "Go ahead," she invited. "Tell me you don't like it when people keep secrets from you. I want to hear it."

Axel sighed again.

Last time, when he was frantically carrying Rachel inside the boundary lines, Pax had formally invited Axel inside. He didn't know if he'd need a verbal invitation every time or if his membership was on autorenewal. Maybe if it wasn't, he could tell Pax, _no, this won't work_.

Axel popped his gum and took a step forward.

The adrenaline from last time had distracted him from the sensation. Either that, or he _wasn't_ welcome back to camp. The Mist twisted around him like a frothy cream, one that could perforate your skin and fuzz your thoughts and muscles. He didn't slam into a wall like he expected. He was _absorbed_.

For a choking moment, he thought he'd be stuck forever. Then everything returned to normal. The air felt clear and warm, much warmer than outside. The murk clinging to his mind and body dissipated.

Maybe walking through the barrier had taken longer than he thought. Maybe the sound of Matt working on the van, or the thought of the Leonis Caput distracted him. Regardless, when he regained his senses, Jason Grace stood in front of him in a Camp Half-Blood track suit, sweating and panting.

Axel was about to swat his little brother over the head. Every morning, Pax's mother gave her son golden apples that could change him into anyone temporarily. Jason Grace was Pax's favorite person to imitate for pranks or recon, but "Jason" beat Axel to a reaction.

"Nice shirt," he said, nodding towards Axel's _Zeus and I once fought each other. Loser had to wear his sheets for the rest of eternity_ print _._ In the event that Reyna was visiting for some reason, Axel had changed his clothing to assure he looked and smelled professional.

Axel half-smiled, about to pinch his little brother's ear. "Shut u—"

But he caught sight of Merry, Kally, and Pax, all standing to his right. Pax cowered behind Merry, peering over her should at the _actual_ Jason Grace.

Axel caught himself. He clenched his jaw, trying to remember what little Latin he knew. " _Quid agis mane_ , Pontifex Maximus?" Axel greeted.

Despite the orange suit, and the sweat darkening the rim of his purple undershirt, Jason looked regal. At Axel's militaristic stance and tone, Jason raised his chin. He paused, as though confused and—far worse—bashful. "Uh, they try not to be so formal at Camp Half-Blood," he said. "Jason Grace, but just Jason is fine."

He stuck out a hand for Axel to shake.

This was never how Axel imagined he'd exchange names with the ex-praetor of New Rome. On a battlefield with separate armies? Yes. In a one-on-one duel to the death? Sure, why not. But in front of a golden ass, trying to murder Matthias Hanson with the equivalent of a crocodile death roll… this was underwhelming and far less violent. Well, for everyone but Matt.

Axel calmly reached out and took the former praetor's hand. The shake was firm and short. Nothing in the exchange said that Jason knew who Axel really was.

"Axel Pax," he said.

Jason nodded, aware—as much as Axel was—that the name exchange was superficial. As though to prove it, Jason continued, "I've wanted to thank you for helping Rachel. I know Annabeth and Percy would say the same, but you left before they got back. Now they're off doing college prep."

"It was my brother's quest," Axel stated. Pax liked to remind Joey of that every chance he got.

Merry glanced between the two of them, then put a hand up. "I know this has serious potential to go into an honor-off or a _Mr. Polite_ Pageant," she interrupted, "But, I'm hungry. Food's that way." She pointed off in the distance. With the sun supplying more light, Axel could see the winged horseshoe of the cabins and, beyond that, he knew there'd be the dining pavilion.

By now, Pax had switched partners and peeked over Kally's shoulder at Jason, his arms protectively around her waist. From the way she gripped Pax's arm and the confusion on her face, he was squeezing her too tight. Axel was glad that neither she nor Jason noticed the precautionary dart tucked between two of his fingers.

For a moment, Axel considered it: Pax and he could swarm Jason. _**Another praetor for the collection…**_

Axel shook the voice out of his head, gritting his teeth.

" _Evryting aarite_ ," he assured Pax in Kriol.

Although Pax wouldn't put the weapon back into his utility belt, he slide the dart into his duster jacket's sleeve. Axel just hoped that had sleep serum on it and not poison, so Pax wouldn't fall over in spasms if he accidentally stabbed himself.

Jason blinked at the interaction. Even people in metropolitan areas like San Francisco and New York, Kriol sounded foreign and the tone of command confused the ex-Roman.

Kally deflated the comment before it could become an issue. She cleared her throat. "Food sounds great," she said before grabbing Pax's hand and _hopefully_ not putting her hand near the dart.

Merry led the procession. Axel knew Pax would never let Jason Grace walk behind him, so he followed Merry, hoping Jason would walk beside Axel instead.

Thankfully, he did.

As he did, he proposed something that made Axel cringe. "I was hoping you'd sit at my table for breakfast. I wanted to talk to you."

Out of the soporific memories of his childhood, the storytelling calmed Axel the most. His _chiich1_ would gather him and his siblings around their single room shack, reserving her lap for Lapis since she was the only girl and Hiro since he was a baby-despite Pax's many attempts to infiltrate the spot that was once reserved for him. She would paint exciting stories of the gods with her oration, especially the exploits of Hunahpu and Xbalanque. When Uncle Frasco took them in, the stories continued, now with dramatic reenactments from other members of their traveling circus. "Aunt" Nilley always sat close enough to poke Axel with her foot, not afraid to show her favoritism. She and Frasco added Greek mythology into the tales and, occasionally, Nilley would let Frasco weave own his myths— _who would win? Yum Cimil2 or Hades?_ After Santiago, their real father, beat Frasco and Nilley to death, the stories didn't stop, becoming harsher as though to reflect their lives. Santiago introduced the more violent Aztec tales.

Every month, during one of their tense and lavish dinners, Santiago would describe how the Tiatoani3Ahiutzotl invited the enemy kings to a gracious feast after Tiatoani Ahiutzotl conquered their lands. He went so far as to sneak the kings into his territory safely, just so they could see Ahiutzotl sacrifice thousands of their captured warriors in an arena where the captives were armed with feathered sticks. _"Gifts and meals,_ " Santiago would say, _"are the water lilies of a ruler. They can demoralize a man as much as cutting off his arm and they can lead him to the pool in which he'll drown."_

As Axel sat down at the pompously named Table One, he couldn't stop thinking about Ahiutzotl. Although Jason Grace had no idea who Axel was without the feline helmet, it felt like the ex-praetor wanted to intimidate him into compliance by sitting him in front of all the campers… just with a lot less tearing-out-human-hearts-and-throwing-them-onto-bonfires than Ahiutzotl would.

Axel had never been to a meal at camp. From what he'd heard from Pax and Luke, the seating assignments must have been looser than normal. And much more sparsely populated. Out of the nineteen or so tables, there were under two dozen demigods.

He could hear Pax arguing loudly with Merry as they walked down the line of tables. "—help but notice the lack of Mr. I's presence."

"Mr. I?" Kally repeated.

"Yea… that guy who can't keep our names straight," Pax responded slyly.

"Dude, it's _early_ on a Saturday morning," Merry laughed. She herded them towards her far table, Twelve. "You'll be lucky if you can get my dad awake by noon on a party night."

To Axel's relief, the wine god wasn't present, though he had no doubts Mr. D would be around for lunch or dinner. Fortunately for Axel, Chiron gave him little more than a welcoming smile from Table Twelve. If this were dinner, Axel feared Chiron might give one of his renowned speeches, about camaraderie and the importance of mysterious and unhelpful direction to campers. He watched Pax sit awkwardly between Pollux and a satyr to get the best observation spot of Axel and Jason. Pax _did not_ trust them alone together, and Axel could understand wahy, but Merry had assured the separation when she practically dragged Pax to her table.

As soon as Axel sat down, a thick, brown liquid steamed up from the cup in front of him. The scent wafted to his nostrils and he could feel his mouth salivate: spicy hot chocolate. He didn't want to admit anything good could come of this camp, but that was exactly the comfort drink he wanted. Begrudgingly, he lifted the glass, inhaling the aroma of chocolate and hot peppers.

"Nice track suit," Axel finally said to the ex-praetor.

Jason blinked, glanced down at his attire, and laughed nervously. "Connor Stoll… uh—don't get caught in any kind of game or bet with him."

"There are many reasons I prefer staying in my van over the Hermes Cabin," Axel said, hoping to get this conversation over as quickly as possible. This discussion had to be partially due to his refusal of Camp Half-Blood's housing and food. He might as well jump to the point.

Jason surprised him with another laugh. "I feel like the children of Hermes are much wilder than that of Mercury. I'm sure Reyna is still feeling the backlash of letting them interact this summer."

A dryad with silvery green hair dropped two platters of bacon, sausages, eggs, and brisket in front of them. Axel felt his stomach clench. _Real_ food. He and Pax rarely could afford fresh, high quality meat and definitely couldn't spend their time enjoying it.

Before indulging, he glanced at the retreating dryad. "Wait," he called gently.

Jason paused in mid-lift with a sausage. He glanced over at the dryad, like Axel had tried to kick Ares in the balls and missed. Which was ridiculous. Axel would never miss.

The dryad huffed and pivoted to face him. "What? You think this is what I like to do all day?"

He knew it was one of the things the gods _forced_ the dryads to do: serve the campers. A thankless job. Her particular elfish features looked familiar. He must have seen her around the day he entered camp.

"Olive," the name came to him. "I met you when Ajax and I were training in the morning."

Her cheeks greened, though Axel didn't know why. He hoped they hadn't done something to upset her.

He gestured at breakfast. "Thank you. Please let me know if I can help with anything."

The chlorophyll in her skin looked like it might explode out of her cheeks. "Eat your breakfast so I'm not waiting around all day to clean up," she snapped and hustled away.

Jason looked impressed. "That's the most civil I've ever seen Olive be with a demigod."

Axel grunted. _You would also be in a foul mood if you were unpaid. In most states, that's called slavery_. But they weren't here to discuss nature spirit rights. Jason proved it when he pressed his lips together, making his small scar stick out. Axel always wondered what battle he'd gotten that from.

After a long enough pause where Axel _should_ have responded with more than a grunt, Jason awkwardly changed the subject."Olive and Grover both said you don't have the same scent as the average demigod," he said.

Axel sighed. Like he hadn't heard _that_ one before. He set his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together so he could rest his chin on them. "So you're saying I smell?"

"Not—" Jason waved a hand and smiled, unwilling to be derailed. "Not like that. But…" the smile weakened and Jason's tone grew softer, "Rachel also said you mask your face in Mist—"

That comment hit Axel like a high-five from Hercules. Tension clenched his shoulders and made him wonder how quickly he could reach for his sword. He'd completely forgotten their Oracle also had true sight.

"—though she said it was too dark to see your features," Jason continued. "Lou Ellen said you have powerful Mist barriers around your van and that two Mist form weasels guard it—"

Axel remembered her trying to sneak up on him when he was fixing it last month. He should have known that a child of Hecate would recognize a Mist form for what it was.

"-Nico mentioned ghosts haunt the back, ones that can't speak—even to him. And… when you left to fight Python and save Rachel, Calex said he felt three malevolent… essences… he didn't know what they were or what to call them, but he felt them in your van."

By now, Jason had met Axel's gaze. Those blue irises were piercing. Despite the circumstances, Axel was glad Jason could keep a steady stare. Most people lowered their eyes when Axel looked at them directly.

"I understand keeping secrets," Jason said. "We're demigods. The older we get, the more dangerous we learn the world is. But I wanted to let you know…." The ex-praetor's eyes broke contact to drift to Table Seven, where Will Solace fussed over Nico Di Angelo's lack of appetite, then to where Chris Rodriguez slipped a sign onto a child of Ares' back at Table Five that read, _Compliment Me, I'm Awesome_. His smile renewed. "We're accepting here. Even more so than in New Rome. If you're in trouble, we can try to help. You don't need to feel like an outsider because of something that happened in your past. I guess… what I'm trying to say… I'm not really sure what you're hiding or why you feel the need, but remember you can be safe here."

 _You can be safe here_.

Had Axel been a more emotive person, his jaw might have dropped. _What_ had happened to Jason Grace? This was not the warrior he'd met at the Battle of Mount Othrys.

The ex-Roman rose with his plate, taking a step towards the brazier in the center of the pavilion. He paused, glancing back at Axel expectantly. Everyone kept chatting and laughing like this was normal. Several members from Cabin Four were getting to their feet, picking up their plates. Axel was pleased to find Euna and Joey among them. Joey gave him a short wave, then elbowed her sister. Euna jumped, searched around, and also waved when she saw him, making Joey roll her eyes. They and Calex must have arrived recently. Sure enough, the Son of Eros had joined his cousins in the cluster of Aphrodite campers at Table Ten.

When Axel stared at Jason, Jason cocked his head. "Oh! Sorry, since you're older, I forgot you're new. We start every meal by giving an offering to the gods," he explained. The ease and thoughtlessness of his tone—Axel could tell Jason had never considered it another way. There it was: the assumptiveness and egotism of a Roman.

Axel remained seated, examining Jason's face. "Why?" he asked.

"The fumes go up to the gods. They think it smells good—"

"No," Axel interrupted. "I should rephrase. What would happen if we didn't?"

The children at the Demeter table were getting impatient. Axel wondered, absently, if it was tradition for Jason, Nico, or Percy to burn their food first and everyone was waiting on the two of them to move. After all, Jason had become Pontifex Maximus. As the religious authority, he should lead these types of processions.

When Jason still looked confused, Axel continued, "Other than a few exceptions," He motioned to Artemis's empty table. In modern years, that goddess was known for safeguarding her followers. "The Greek gods tend to ignore you until you ignore them. So-" – _ **Cattle of Zeus**_ —"-tell me, what would happen if we didn't?"

As Jason gave consideration to the question, a frown tugged at the corner of his mouth, right by his scar. Others close by, at the Demeter and Ares tables, were beginning to stare at them.

Slowly, Axel rose and picked up his plate. The sight of Jason's somber expression backlit with the brazier's fire made Axel drop a hands to his sword hilt. He felt like he should be wearing his _Leonis Caput_ helmet and accompanying lion's fur cloak. That's what he wore when he saw this Roman the first time in person, a year ago at the Battle of Mount Othrys. Jason Grace had blown up a column of Kronos's palace, collapsing part of the roof on top of their "reserves." Jason had been aiming for the Titan Krios with his lightning. Axel knew that. But he also knew that roofing crushed a seven-year-old girl named Charlene who they'd taken in as a sort-of mascot. They thought she'd be safest further back, closer to the Titan. The black marble also smashed the lower half of a daughter of Aphrodite named Flynn Davis, leaving enough of her upper torso exposed for Pax to claw, scream, and sob at the rubble.

In war, humans had to take on the cold, absentminded personalities of gods. Axel wondered if Jason even _knew_ that he'd killed so many demigods amongst the monsters, that he'd become a monster in the eyes of Axel's little brother, causing a normally kindhearted, jovial prankster to swear on the River Styx that he'd one day slit the ex-preator's throat. Axel mainly wanted to know if he and the Son of Zeus were more similar than either of them would have assumed. If Jason also couldn't sleep because the screams and pleas of those he murdered echoed at night. Even before Phobetor plagued Axel and the new Seven with nightmares, he hated dreaming.

While walking past Jason, towards the brazier's fire in the center of the pavilion, Axel considered what the ex-Roman had said. _You can be safe here..._

 _ **Liar.**_

"Is this more like paying tribute to dictators so they won't slaughter your village?" Axel mused to himself. That made them _safe._ As the heat from the brazier grew uncomfortable on his skin, he debated on whether or not he minded some food going to Hestia, as a sliver always did. He and Pax had stolen coals from her flames recently, so he supposed it was just to repay her with something.

But it wouldn't be tribute. Axel didn't worship, give tribute, or pray. The gods were unreliable in all things except enacting curses, so he'd learned to depend on his own skills and intelligence. However, that didn't mean he couldn't drop a line to an old alliance or acknowledge a debt.

 _Prometheus…_ he thought _. I hope you're safe wherever you're hiding, my friend. And Hecate.._. He swallowed, _I haven't forgotten all you've done_. He scrapped the rawest piece of brisket and the second to juiciest looking sausage into the fire. Nothing exploded. Zeus didn't show up to turn him into something. A fire demon didn't try to stab his eye out with the sausage. For a second, though, he thought he could see a young, brunette girl frowning sadly from the edge of the brazier.

Once done, he reclaimed his seat at Table One. Jason rejoined him moments later, looking pensive and concerned. "I'd like to talk to you about that further, maybe with someone like Annabeth who has a much stronger grasp on ancient history than I do."

This was a much more reasonable response than Axel had been expecting. He inclined his head, watching Pax scamper up behind Kally to offer some of his food to the fire. Knowing Pax, he actually was making offerings to Comus, Hermes, or Dolos, that way he didn't lose an arm next he pranked the wrong person.4 Axel had to wonder how Kally felt about the offering, as she seemed to share some of his reservations about the gods.

"But…" Jason bit into some brisket forlornly, "This isn't why I brought you over here."

Axel glanced back over at Jason. If Jason _hadn't_ brought him over to discuss how suspicious the Pax brothers were, he feared the actual intention.

"You see Chiron forbade children of the Big Three from teaming up for Capture the Flag," Jason stated seriously.

Axel blinked. He must have heard that wrong.

"Usually, Percy and I are on opposite sides, with Nico… um… refraining from taking sides, and attacking both teams for the sake of attacking both teams," Jason continued while munching on some eggs.

So, Axel hadn't heard Jason wrong. Uncertainly, he asked, "Have the Big Three never teamed up?"

"We did once before summer ended," Jason looked wistfully over at the Aphrodite Table, where Piper McLean was laughing with Calex and her siblings. "The three of us against the rest of the camp."

"You must have crushed them."

Jason became very interested in his drink. "Actually… um… Piper, Will, and Annabeth came up with a pretty clever plan to distract us."

 _You let them win_ , Axel translated, though the blush on Jason's cheeks said otherwise. He couldn't imagine the ex-praetor of Rome, the Hero of Manhattan, and the Ghost King falling prey to the ploys of three flirting teenagers. Axel debated whether or not he'd let Reyna distract him. Considering they'd crossed sword and spear more than once, he would say a qualified no, but a fight for one's life was different than a fight for a banner and Reyna definitely hadn't been flirting when the armies of Othrys and Rome clashed.

"Chiron considered holding off this week, since a lot of small fights have been breaking out. Nothing important, but Athena is mad since she and Poseidon are vying for patronage of some new museum and… other things of that nature," Jason shrugged. "It was decided earlier today that the Hades Cabin is taking sides and already has alliances with Aphrodite and Eros. The problem is: Nico is like a small army himself."

Kronos's spies had told Axel this during the war. The Son of Hades was a formidable foe, but Axel still didn't understand what this had to do with him.

Jason reached over and set an arm on Axel's shoulder, sending a jolt through his body. "This is going to be a tough battle and I want you on my team."

1 Grandmother

2 Depending on your source, a god of the underworld.

3 "the person who has permission to speak for the people" or speaker. For a close English translation, think king.

4 Comus is the Greek God of Laughter among other traits and Dolos is the spirit of trickery and guile.


	5. Calex: Forecast of kidnapping

Five: Calex

And for Today's Forecast, We Predict Sunshine and a Forty Percent Chance of Kidnap

(or: And This Author Thought They'd Never Need to Write Calex Again… Bloody Hell)

As soon as breakfast was over, Calex and Merry gathered their group of seven along with Piper and moved them towards the beach. No one complained about missing cabin inspection or the lesson on Ancient Greek. Over the last week, Malcolm, a son of Athena, had them reading the lost files of some bloke named Xenophanes and… some mistranslation about gods being oxen? Calex preferred the comedic writings of Aristophanes, especially seeing how the children of Hermes, Dionysus, and Apollo insisted on reenacting the work.

He wanted somewhere private to talk. Connor and Travis Stoll probably already knew all the proper locations to sneak and eavesdrop around the Big House and all the cabins. Calex felt the beach was their safest selection. Unless the Stoll brothers managed some assistance from Percy, who was absent, or that daughter of Kymopo—Kym, who was insane. Without those two, the Stoll brothers would be forced into the open. The only ones that could listen out here were nereids and Poseidon and Calex hoped Poseidon had bigger kippers to fry, or however the Stoll brothers had taken to mocking Percy when Calex was around.

This part of the beach was within camp boundaries, so it felt warm enough for a swim, especially with today's lack of clouds. Pax decided this was Calex's brilliant plan all along and ran straight for the water. Axel couldn't catch him before the idiot had his trousers and combat boots off and was prancing around like an audition for _The Little Mermaid._

Axel sighed. He removed his boots, rolled up his pants, and walked solemnly after his brother, probably to assure Pax didn't drown himself or kick a shark in the face.

Joey surprised Calex. She kicked off her flip flops and strolled after the boys. Once she was a meter away from Pax and about knee-deep in the surf, she stopped and nonchalantly flicked her wrist to one side.

A piece of seaweed flew out of the water and hit Pax's face, hard enough to take him down. He collapsed under the waves.

Calex coughed back a laugh. Merry laughed boisterously. Axel and Piper both tried to hold off smiles. Calex couldn't tell if Kally put a hand to her mouth because she was worried or trying not to join them.

"Joey!" Euna snapped. She stood beside Calex on the shoreline, glowering.

"What?" Joey pivoted sharply to face her. She rolled her eyes and gestured at the water. "Look, he's…" her eyes widened. "He's…" she began to frantically look around where he fell. There weren't any extra waves or bubbles. "Pax?" she demanded, sounding annoyed. "Pax!"

The water exploded to her right. A blur nailed the back of her legs while shouting, "Shark attack! _Rawr!_ " before dragging her—screaming—under.

When they surfaced, Joey shook her arms in disgust, spraying ocean water everywhere. Pax appeared beside her, an idiotic grin on his face. Joey huffed, "Augh! You ruined my hair and makeup! Do you have any idea how long it takes to put this on?"

"However long it takes you to peal the face off your victims in the morning," he estimated.

Joey splashed water in his face.

Calex could see the bloke's body tense for retaliation, but Axel grabbed Pax by one arm and dragged him to his feet.

Piper intervened before either set of siblings, the Song sisters or the Pax brothers, could start fighting with one another. "Unfortunately, we didn't bring you out here to hang out on the beach," she said. The calming in her voice relaxed Calex's shoulders. Over the past few weeks, he'd learned to readily identify her charm speak. She didn't abuse it, but she did use it to divert a lot of potential fights.

From what he could tell, that serenity unnerved Axel and Pax. They glanced at one another and Axel put his free hand to his ear. "Don't do that," Axel whispered.

Piper looked startled. The others had no idea what he was talking about, or Calex assumed they didn't from their expressions. Joey stood up, twisted the ends of her shirt, and strode back to shore, a hop in her step. Calex decided he would resist reading her emotions for the time being, as he feared they'd make him a little sick in the mouth.

"Sooooo, what's with the big team meeting?" Merry finally asked. She plopped onto the sand by the shore, tugging Kally down beside her. Kally failed at landing gracefully. She squeaked, pretended to look comfortable, then awkwardly adjusted.

"Warning," Kally requested.

"Life has lots of beautiful surprises. I'm just preparing you to handle them," Merry teased before returning her attention to Calex.

Everyone gathered by him. Joey was using Pax's pants to dab off her skin as she walked to the circle Merry and Kally had started. Euna and Piper were already on either side of him. Axel tugged Pax over from the water, Pax pouting, until they reached the water edge. Pax knelt while Axel crouched, both staying just in the trickle of tide.

Calex exhaled deeply. He could feel Piper touch his arm. Her unspoken, " _It's okay. You can do this_ ," rang in his head. She, Euna, and Joey all sat, but Calex knew he couldn't. What if he needed to run? That was the one thing he was quite good at.

"I figured something out... Our nightmares that Phobetor has been giving the lot of us… they're not nightmares," Calex said. No one piped up. They waited for him to explain.

Calex gazed out at the ocean. Home was roughly 5,500 kilometers across the water. He'd looked it up the first week after they fought Python. He'd never been to America before. Now he didn't think he could ever go back to St. Albans. All his mates likely thought him dead.

"Over summer holiday…" Calex began, "My mum, brother, and I would go to visit our granddad on the outskirts to Kakata—"

Pax raised his hand.

Merry smiled. "Liberia," she said.

Pax kept his hand raised.

Merry's smile became a smirk. "West Africa," she clarified.

Pax put his hand down.[footenote: 1] Everyone other than Merry and Piper exchanged a sheepish glance.

Calex exhaled and continued, "My mum has a clinic there. Tom and I would go to help. Sometimes just to loaf around…" He thought about all the sex education talks he'd given to prevent the spread of HIV and the summer's he'd spent helping the former child soldiers from the Civil War, especially with their drug addictions. "But—when she got real busy—we'd pitch in our share," he said. "This holiday was different. Lots of people were sick. Fever, fatigue, muscle pain, and headache. We considered the usual extremes in the area: maybe there'd been some contaminated food that had given everyone Typhoid Fever, or maybe sewage had leaked the water supply and caused an epidemic of Hepatitis A. Bloody Hell," Calex's voice cracked, "We even thought the first person had Yellow Fever or malaria."

He could still remember the look in his mum's eyes when she realized what it was. Tiwa—she liked being called by her first name—had beautiful black orbs, brimming with compassion and ferocity. After a day of collecting blood samples, discussing incubation periods, and symptoms, her eyes had widened with alarm, then relaxed with acceptance. She sighed, and told Calex to put down the vials he'd been helping her collect. She gripped his hand through their latex gloves, something she hadn't done since he was a boy.

Then she said one of the scariest things he would ever hear. "Calex, you know your father and I love you dearly." She never said 'father' when referring to Winston, his stepdad. She meant his _actual_ dad who he'd never known. "He might be able to help you. But, if you love me," she squeezed his fingers, "please let me go. I'll be ready."

* * *

Calex blinked rapidly, now focusing on the shoreline of Camp Half-Blood. He didn't want to picture his mother's face. He swallowed deeply. "I think it was an Ebola outbreak."

As he expected, a sense of panic spread among them. Joey's jaw went slack in horror. Kally hugged herself. Merry stared at him evenly. Euna stiffened and Axel frowned. Pax glanced at the others, like he wasn't sure why everyone was so upset. Leave it to Calex's least favorite person to not care if Calex was a carrier.

Trying to ignore their expressions, Calex muttered, "Our clinic was small, mostly for the rubber plantation workers on the outskirts of the town. We didn't have hazmat suits. We just had masks and gloves that we brought from home."

They followed proper procedure with what they had, but they'd heard the stories—that nurses could be infected through the hazmat suits. She notified all the right people, but there were only a few laboratories that could do proper Ebola testing, and Calex never heard if any of their vials made it.

That week was a blur. IV after IV, trying to keep the clinic sanitary from all the vomit and diarrhea. He remembered seeing the sweat break out on his half-brother's brow. Calex had asked Tom if he was okay. Normally, Tom was a lazy git, but he'd been beside Calex the whole time, helping to bring water to the patients lined up outside their walls and whatever else Tiwa requested. Tom kept saying he was fine until he collapsed.

Tiwa took them to their small room in the back and explained to them what was happening. Calex and Tom didn't react. They just listened as she said the government had just put a lockdown on the Kakata district to prevent the spread, that help probably wouldn't make it out to a small clinic like theirs, that they didn't have enough IVs to keep everyone hydrated, that the virus she thought it was had a 50-70% mortality rate. Most of this Calex didn't register until weeks later, when he was safely at Camp Half-Blood. At the time, all he could do was watch his little brother tremble violently with fever and how his mother touched her forehead like she had a headache.

Then Shopona, the Yoruba God of Infectious Disease, crept into their clinic.

Calex had been setting up a makeshift tent outside since they didn't have enough room inside their two room shack. He wanted to give those lined up outside relief from the sun. None of them seemed to see the Orisha limp by.[2] But Calex recognized him from the stories his granddad told: a hobbled man with a broom, a terra-cotta vase, and a headdress woven out of wheat and decorated with cowry shells. Calex couldn't even see the god's face between the thick strands of grains.

By then, Tom had started vomiting and was too weak to get out of the cot that he, Calex, and Tiwa had been sharing in the back room. Tiwa's knees and shoulders ached too much to help with the tent, so Calex had no one to verify Shopona's passing. Calex thought it might be a fever-induced hallucination, one foreshadowing the symptoms of this disease.

Patients started dying as soon as Shopona entered. Calex had seen people die in the clinic before, but he'd never seen a god walk from one to the other, touching the rashes on their skin. Calex could always feel people's love, desires, envy, and hatred. As the god walked through, the feelings drained out of Calex's patients, leaving them husks of empty flesh. Calex followed in morbid fascination, knowing he should be afraid, but… at the time, he thought he couldn't be more afraid than when Tiwa told him to let her go.

He didn't know how long Shopona was there. Calex had stopped checking clocks and was now measuring time by how many IVs they had left. But the God of Infectious Disease would come and go, healing and killing, completely ignoring Calex's observation. The last time Calex saw Shopona, he brought someone else with him. And Calex relearned fear.

All summer, Calex had been fighting monsters, but he wasn't prepared for this.

A man entered their clinic, one with skin the color of teakwood and golden eyes more hollow than that of the corpses Calex had been removing. He was muscular and so beautiful that Calex paused when he stooped through the doorway.

At first, Calex thought the man had a board of feathers strapped onto his back. Slowly he realized they were wings, ones that glistened indigo and ebony in the midday heat. Like Shopona, the man ignored Calex, but he did something far worse than give Calex attention. He walked towards the back room of the clinic.

Reflex took over. Calex pulled the pencil pouch containing _Soul Pain_ , his bow, out and assembled it faster than he thought possible. Within seconds, he had the bow drawn and aimed at the man. Not until Calex stepped in the man's path did Calex realize he had no arrows.

His mother's words made sense now, " _Please let me go. I'll be ready_."

But all the emotions he'd numbed broke. _He_ wasn't ready _. This_ wasn't fair. All of this was too much. Sixteen-year-olds weren't supposed to see so much death; they weren't supposed to _meet_ Death. They were supposed to go to football competitions, act like hooligans, beat up Chelsea and Manchester United fans, and hang out at the deli and get some Nandos afterwards.

He found himself screaming, _"You can't have them! You can't take them from me!"_

The god's regal face remained tranquil. As he took another steady step forward, he spoke. His voice was as lovely as his face, calming and harmonious. "Unlike Apollo, who spared you infliction, I do not fear your father. It is time for Tiwa and Tom to come with me. They will die heroes, their last actions sacrificed in attempt to save others."

 _Futilely_ , Calex thought. _Futilely sacrificed._

Death seemed to read his thoughts. "Eventually, the souls of every living person shall be reaped, yours included. If you think this sacrifice to extend life is futile, perhaps all sacrifices are, since no one can change what happens to mortals in the end."

Calex tried not to listen. The tone was cold and he didn't want to hear any explanation from Death. All he wanted was for this nightmare to be over.

A tugging sensation made Calex feel sick to his stomach. Part of him hoped this was it, that he was getting the same fever and virus as his family, but the other part of him felt the energy surge into his fingers trembling against the bowstring.

A golden bolt of shear emotion blazed into existence, notched perfectly in his bow.

Death's mouth pressed into a firm line. "That would be unwise. Raw emotions without purpose will have an unpredictable outcome—"

Calex fired and hit Thanatos, the God of Death, directly in the heart.

Nothing happened. Calex wasn't sure what he _wanted_ to have happen. He'd wanted to get Death's attention away from his family. He'd wanted to sob. He'd wanted to make it all stop. But the bolt absorbed into Death's chest like a mirage of light.

The god's eyes might have widened with surprise. If they did, Calex would need a microscope to see it. Those wings spread leisurely, framing Death's angelic body.

Calex dove to the side instinctively.

Death barely missed him when he flew forward.

Calex's foot tangled on the leg of an IV stand. He stumbled, rolled, and went to crawl away, towards the exit. When he looked back, he saw Death had recovered and stood only a few feet away, checking a pure black iPad. Hushed and quick, he muttered, "Calex Rupin McKenzie… Calex—not soon enough! Not soon enough—no!"

Death no longer looked calm.

Calex trembled in horror as Death dropped the iPad. It poofed into black smoke before hitting the floor. "It doesn't matter. Come here Calex." Death's honey colored eyes absorbed him the way the god's chest had taken the bolt, seeming to now recognize him as more than a future chore to be checked off a list. "I only ever have the company of the dead for fleeting moments. I cannot come near the living, and the dead are gone too soon. I'll have you not perishing, and not living. I'll keep you on the precipice of death, so you can never leave my side."

Realization sent a shudder through Calex's body, dread chilling him. His arrow hadn't hurt the god _physically_.

"Calex Rupin McKenzie," Death said, "I'll make you _mine_."

Later, shame would torment Calex for what he did next, but at the time, he'd temporarily forgotten his mother and his brother. He'd tuned out the groans of the delirious and dying days ago.

Instead of standing up to save his family as he'd planned, he turned and fled the clinic.

The whisper of wings rustled behind him. He didn't look back. He'd always been the fastest runner on his football team and he sprinted so the wind whistled in his ears. Despite his best effort, he could hear Death, sad and calm, whispering, "You can't escape Death, Calex. I am inevitable. Fighting me is pointless."

The hot air clogged his lungs. Calex stumbled over the dirt road, past pickup trucks from the 80's and their local, abandoned marketplace. The white walls and thatched roofs blurred with the green of the forest beyond.

The wind roared louder until it solidified into a coherent call, "Calex!" It shouted to his right. Calex dared a glance, finding a different man flying beside him. Calex knew it was another god. This one had a deep tan, curly black hair, beach wear and wings the color of autumn leaves. A basket of fruit and a hoop dangled off his belt as he flew. "Your father sent me!" he called. Calex's father? _I don't know my dad!_ Calex wanted to scream, but the other god's dark eyes glanced behind, slowly moving upward. "It looks like he sent me just in time."

Darkness passed between them and the heat of the African sun vanished, leaving Calex shivering. Death appeared before him, wings outstretched to block the path forward. The other god to his right disappeared.

Calex scrambled to halt, his trainers lost traction with the mud, and he fell. Had a gust of wind not pushed him away, he might have skid right into the god.

Death took a step closer. His honey-colored eyes were serene again, the way Calex imagined a serial killer's would be. He extended a muscular arm towards Calex and Calex felt the adrenaline of panic and the despair of hopelessness overwhelm his senses. The heat of the air, the vibrancy of the sun, the smell of the nearby, humid forest, and the sensation of exhaustion from days of fighting the infection plaguing this town: it all vanished. Silence shushed the hum of insects. This world faded into insignificance as the merciless inevitability of time whispered to him that _yes, you would one day die-all you have worked for would turn to ashes and feed the cannibalistic cycle of the universe, everything you love will fade, everything you are will be forgotten. Even the gods-at some point-will fall._ But it was alright. Like the rest of it, this man would comfort him, would hold him, would make the futility of the world sensible.

As exhaustion crept over Calex, he could feel the icy touch of Death grow close. "I'll be your greatest adventure," the soothing voice comforted, "My embrace is more calming and eternal than even that of Hypnos's sleep. Calex, come with me willingly. I don't want to have to force you."

 _I don't want to force you_.

The words sank into Calex's stomach like a liter of milk: he felt like throwing up. The world snapped back into focus. He _wasn't_ going to be taken without a fight. He was still young. Calex backed away from Death's embrace.

Although Calex saw no change of expression on Death's face, the wings quivered. "I will have you Calex, whether you want me to or not."

Something shimmered on Calex's right. A gentle breeze cooled the sweat on his face. He didn't look over, but could see the silhouette of the russet winged god knelling beside him. "Take my hand," the god offered and reached out.

"Stay out of this Zephyros," Death snarled.

Calex glanced over. Zephyros looked like a carefree younger brother caught between the older siblings' fight, trying to keep calm. "Thanatos… you're not yourself. You're bewitched."

"Do not touch him," Thanatos ordered. "In the end, you and Apollo both lost to _me_ , Again, will you—"

A fruit smacked into Thanatos's beautiful face. From the looks of it, a pomegranate.

Zephyros had a hand inside his picnic basket, fishing for another fruit. "I didn't—that discus shouldn't have killed him—" his shout cracked.

Thanatos touched his face.

Zephyros paled. He reached his empty hand out to Calex again. "We might want to leave soon. Just a suggestion."

If Calex had taken Zephyros's hand without a thought, he might have been less ashamed. But he remembered thinking about the crinkle of his mother's eyes when she smiled. How annoyed Tom looked when Calex woke him up in the morning. He remembered putting the IV needle into his brother's arm in a vain attempt to keep him hydrated and the way his mother's eyes glazed with fever and delirium.

Calex took Zephyros's hand, leaving his family in the hands of Death.

* * *

The West Wind had carried him to this very beach before dropping him gently into the water for the nereids to find. Calex wasn't sure how much of this story he said out loud. His mouth tasted sick. As he spoke, he remembered washing ashore with the crimson symbol of Eros blazing above his head and how long he had that dreaded curse: the ability to read everyone else's emotion while he couldn't quiet his own.

He didn't give a pause for a reaction. He didn't want one. A week ago, when he finally told Piper what had happened, she'd held him as he sobbed. Tears or anger might surface if he saw their pity, shock, or fear. Instead, he continued to the point.

"That wasn't the first time I'd seen that—them dying." he said, keeping his eyes on the incoming tide. The water had snaked past the Pax brothers to hug Kally and Merry's legs "Whole summer beforehand, I had that nightmare. Every night. I saw Death come for Tiwa and Tom and I ran from him." _And you still couldn't change it, you bloody coward_. "Not a nightmare… it was a premonition." He finally looked at them. "I think the seven of us are having premonitions."

A chilly breeze seemed to blast through the camp's barrier. Water seeped up his trousers. Calex hadn't realized it, but the tide had crept up on all of them. Everyone must have been too scared he'd stop talking if they moved—or had been too distracted by the story. The Song sisters were the ones most inland, but even their trousers were wet. Joey shifted as though to get up then slipped further into the surf.

She looked terrified. Kally had a hand to her mouth. He couldn't see Piper or Euna since they were on either side of him. Merry frowned slightly. Tears streamed down Pax's cheeks; the blubbering idiot gave Calex some of the saddest eyes he'd seen. _"Su madre y su hermano_ …" Pax whispered. Although Calex hadn't interacted with the language much, Calex was pretty sure Pax was still speaking Spanish when he looked at Axel and said " _I—I don't want to think about you dying… or even Dad—"_

" _Shush_ ," Axel commanded. At the mention of their father, his eyes darkened. When his gaze returned to Calex's, it remained steady and composed. Calex shuddered, remembering the quiet hunger of Thanatos. He could feel Piper's grip tighten on his hand. She must have taken hold of it earlier.

Axel broke the silence that was left in the wake of Pax's whimpers. "Kally," he said, glancing at her. The emerald of Kally's eyes looked glassy above her pale hand. "Tell them about Python."

Tension eased from Calex's shoulders and he sighed in relief. He felt like an exceptionally fat satyr had decided to roll of his chest and find somewhere else to ferment. Maybe it hadn't been intentional, but Axel's redirection of their pity and shock was the most merciful act Calex had seen since Stephanie Myers finished the Twilight series.

Kally trembled. "My…" she muttered. She pulled her legs up against her chest and hugged them. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, like she was preparing a speech to a room full of lip-readers. Finally, she exhaled, released her legs, and lifted her head, defiant. "I-I-well… we've all been having nightmares…" she said. "I-I think I see our fight with Python. It's different in my nightmare than what happened. Will wasn't there. Python's squeezing me, threatening me with… with the Fields of Punishment if I fail-I don't know what she thinks I'm going to fail. She never says. But she whispers _'Child of Light, here to reap the scythe of the lion's labors_ ' like she did when we fought her."

Calex wouldn't know how much that differed from the actual fight. He'd spent last month's battle collecting the injured as they fell-first he'd dragged out Axel, then Euna, then Joey, leaving Pax, Kally, Nico, and Will to fight the monster on their own. But it sounded close enough to be a premonition.

"A-and, I saw something else. It was…" she faltered. "I don't know if it was anything but I had a brief vision of dropping a scythe. I had black hair… And that helme—monster... that Labyrinth monster Nico talked about, the Leonis Caput, it was there, trying to comfort me. It might have been nothing though." She dropped her eyes again.

Merry let out a tense laugh. "I guess this is the part where we go in a circle and tell everyone our feelings." She inhaled a shaky breath. "Hi. My name is Merry Blythe. I'm sixteen. I like music, dancing, long walks on the beach that apparently end with me sitting in the water until my skin is ready to be pruned off and I have nightmares about my friends fighting the Heroes of Olympus. In them, my powers are too weak to stop everyone from trying to kill each other. Who's next? Euna?"

Calex balked and he could feel Piper tighten her grip on his hand.

"The Heroes of Olympus?" Piper repeated. "As in—"

"Yea, Frank, Percy, Annabeth, Leo…. All glorious seven," Merry filled in.

"Leo?" Piper gasped.

"Yea," Merry sighed dramatically, "Focus on that and not the fact that we're trying to kill each other."

"Why would we be fighting them?" Calex blurted. He couldn't imagine lifting a finger against Annabeth or Percy. Well, he'd been trying to get up the courage to ask their autograph on some item from Camp Half-Blood—but he'd never thought about hurting them. And, with Percy's hurricane ability, Jason's lightning, Leo's fire, and Hazel's Mist, Piper's charm speak-they were practically unstoppable. They'd prevented the giants' rising for Tyche's sake. "We'd have to be absolutely mental to even try," he concluded.

"Whoever said the fight was going well for us?" Merry pointed to herself. "Not this broad. And I don't know why we're fighting. Some jerk," She looked pointedly at Axel, "says something about the ' _Demigod_ _Slayers_ ,' smoke drops, and then chaos breaks loose." She nudged Kally. "You get a really good discus hit on Frank Zhang though."

Kally squeaked, "Me?!"

"Yea. One hit knock out. One minute he's trying to fly like an eagle. The next minute he knows the true definition of 'free falling.'"

This news distressed Piper greatly. "Who are the Demigod Slayers?" she asked Axel.

The Pax brothers exchanged a glance, their expressions blank. Calex truly had to admire the young bloke's ability to switch from blatant tears to utter calm. Pax was like an Etch A Sketch, if Etch A Sketches could ingest one stone's worth of Twirls and Aeros and go on a crazed hyperactive kick.

Pax tilted his head back in thought. "Demigod Slayers… that sounds like a band name. And we were part of a few bands back in the day. Axel was—of course—the hottest in the band."

Axel choked back a laugh, his serious scowl breaking. "Tell that to Jack's fan girls," he said.

Joey snorted at the diversion. "I doubt you two were in a band." She glared at Pax. "What'd you play? The kazoo or the triangle?"

"A: kazoos and triangle can be integral parts of a song," Pax stated, "and B: the triangle…, but with a full set of drums." Unfortunately, Calex could imagine Pax as that dumb bloke in class who made everything into drumsticks: pencils, rulers, chicken legs, other people…

Joey rolled her eyes. "This is just like how you said you were once professional clowns."

"We _were_ professional clowns!" Pax protested. "Why do you think we're so good at acrobatics, darts—"

"Ajax," Axel cut him off. He glanced at Merry. "Is there a third member in this Demigod Slayer group? I might have heard something about a group like that. One that used to terrorize Romans. I could imagine using that as a cover if I were trying to scare Frank, Jason, or Hazel."

At the mention of a third member, Pax silenced and blushed. He stared at the ground and drew in the sand. Calex wanted to know what sorcery could silence him so fast, but also didn't want to start him up again by asking.

Merry shrugged. "There might have been, but I think I'd remember more if I knew more details on the… band." She gave Axel a grin.

He sighed.

Wisely not expecting an immediate answer, Merry turned to Euna. "How about you? Any fun and fancy-free fantasies?"

Euna startled. "Mm? Oh. What Kally said. I think she saw my nightmare. I have a scythe in one hand and a box in another. I'm by…" Euna's brow furrowed. "something… vast… it's everything but simultaneously nothing. Like looking into a black hole." She shook her head. "And I'm really, really angry. I don't know. But that's the nightmare. Joey?"

Like Hermes had stolen Hercules's favorite toy and they were passing it off until the big H got there. Joey sighed and tried to look disinterested by examining her nails. Despite her impeccable attention to dress, her nails always had dirt under them, likely from gardening, and he guessed she kept them short for fighting. It gave her a fancy, rustic look. "I'm drowning in turquoise fire," she said.

"PIPER!"

Everyone jumped at the shout. One of Calex's cousins from the Aphrodite cabin, Mitchell, was running towards them from camp. "Piper, Lacy is having some serious problems with Drew!"

Piper sat up. She released Calex's hand and stood. "They're not at camp," she said, confused.

"I know! We've got an Iris Message going on with Lacy in the cabin. She's in tears!" He caught his breath beside Piper. Despite being demigods, most of the children of Aphrodite had terrible endurance due to their general despise of training. Mitchell, apparently, was no different, though he did give all of them a polite wave while he gasped

Piper frowned. She turned to Calex. "You might need to fill me in later. Counselor duty," she said. She squeezed his shoulder, and he knew she was cheering him, _you did it. You told them and you held it together while you did._

But why did he feel so hollow? When he told Piper, he'd been relieved to have someone know what happened. Now, he felt exhausted. But he forced a head nod. "Go on then," he said.

Pax whined. "I'm missing prank hour!" The cry was half-hearted and Calex wondered if everyone else felt as dreary as he did.

"You mean the Ancient Greek lessons?" Kally asked.

"That's what I said. That hour when everyone else is in one location and the other cabins are left vulnerable," he summarized, hopping to his feet and splashing water in his brother's face. Without another word, he sprinted inland after Piper.

Kally watched him run in bewilderment before shouting, "Pax wait! You forgot your…" She glanced at his pile of stuff. "Pants and boots." She frowned, looked back up at his disappearing figure, then snatched up his effects to run after him.

Using the word _pants_ like that still made Calex uncomfortable. Merry made it worse when she burst out laughing. "Oh, I hope he makes it into the room before she catches him! Think about it, 'Oh! Pax! You forgot your clothes!' As Malcolm gives her the most judgmental, 'And why exactly—Ms. Cassand—do you have his clothes?'"

As she said it, Pax tripped and face planted. Though Euna looked too deep in thought to see it, Joey choked on a laugh. Kally easily caught up to him with the stumble.

"Oh that silly boy," Merry hummed. She planted her hands behind her in the surf so she could lean back and tilt her chin skyward. She looked like an incredibly hot parka model—hot by the literal Celsius meaning as she was in a parka on a climate controlled beach. "Calex, have you been checked?" she asked.

The question was so abrupt, Calex wasn't sure he'd heard her right. Because of his complexion and where he spent his summer holidays, his mates mocked him with similar questions all the time. But he knew that wasn't what she meant.

"Yea…" he whispered. "Yea, Will checked me. He took some of my blood and had it all done professional. It's all negative. I'm not even a carrier. It's like… it's like Apollo really was too scared to inflict me."

She nodded. "Sorry, I gotta make sure everyone is clean before we play together."

Calex couldn't decide if that phrasing sounded more like ill-placed flirting or a rude joke. Over the past month, he'd come to find Merry's brashness charming, but not with the present context. Before he could decide if he wanted to tell her to sod off, she checked a _Minions_ watch on her wrist and rose. "I need to catch a phone call—but don't think I didn't notice that you didn't talk about your dream," she eyed Axel. "We'll have to talk after Capture the Flag tonight." With that, Merry walked after Kally and Pax.

Axel sighed, stood, and jammed his hands into his pockets. Calex was surprised he could hold a crouch so long without getting stiff. "Ladies," he said to the Song sisters, both of whom were still silently seated. "Do you mind if I borrow Calex for a bit?"

"Mm?" Euna blinked.

"Oh, she won't notice for another hour that you asked," Joey shooed them off.

Before the two could start arguing, Axel nodded his head further down the shore. Calex cursed internally. Last time Axel and he had a private talk, Axel was thought Calex was too emotionally compromised for their fight against Python. Axel had been right.

In an attempt to ease into the inevitable criticism and mockery, Calex cleared his throat. "So you're on Jason's team for Capture the Flag tonight?"

Piper and Jason had been brainstorming ways to get Axel to stay at camp. After he helped save Rachel and left abruptly the day after, Rachel herself was sad she didn't get to thank the Pax brothers. Their oddities were a popular subject of gossip, especially when the nymphs found out the Pax brothers practiced acrobatics, dancing, and fighting before everyone else at camp woke up. According to Olive—who saw them the one day they stayed in the Hermes Cabin—Axel did not wear a shirt during these practices. She found this information vital for everyone in the Aphrodite cabin.

"Will and Jason keep reminding me that it's a no-kill, no-maim game," Axel grunted.

"A little surprising since, when you first met, you only almost killed Mark and just three people were maimed," Calex said.

Axel half-smiled in answer. He stopped walking and stared out at the dark blue water. "You think our nightmares are connected to the prophecy," he stated.

Calex frowned. "I was thinking they might… detail why we're the traitors. Assuming the prophecy is about us." He thought about the verses: _Web of lies, kept by an oath. Growth by death and death by growth._ He hoped it wasn't about them, but such optimism felt ludicrous.

Axel's shoulders slummed. "I've known a lot of brave and loyal demigods," he said, turning to face Calex. "Most of them wouldn't have the courage to stand against Death, even to save the ones they love." Calex tensed when Axel extended an arm between them to clamp his hand over Calex's shoulder. "Think about that next time you consider yourself a traitor."

Fast enough that Calex could imagine it hadn't happened, Axel released his shoulder and walked back towards the Song sisters. "Come on," he called without pausing. "We need to talk about how Jason and I are going to crush you and Nico in the games tonight."

For some inexplicable reason that made Calex slightly annoyed, he felt better. Maybe it was because, unlike Piper, he knew Axel would never grant comfort due to pity or kindness.

The clouds must have parted over camp, streaming sunrays down across Axel as he stalked towards the Song sisters.

Calex balked. There hadn't been clouds in the sky earlier. As he watched, the sunrays intensified and Axel, Joey, and Euna flashed out of existence in a shower of gold.

* * *

Footnotes:

[1] Don't worry. Calex probably doesn't know where Belize is… because he calls that area British Honduras.

[2] Yoruba godly manifestation of the Supreme God. Calex's granddad practices a form of Yoruba-Islamic witchcraft.

Added goodies:

Copy this link to see a lovely illustration of Calex dashing from Thanatos by spaghettininja: image/146751313275

These are the two songs that I listened to for inspiration on this chapter: Into Darkness by Thomas Bergersen and the hit This is Gospel by Panic at the Disco.

Thanks for reading guys! Let me know what you think :D


	6. Euna: Trial by Nutritious Breakfast

Six: Euna

Trial by Nutritious Breakfast Cereal

Euna hadn't anticipated being kidnapped by a ray of light. She was busy considering the new information—that they might fight the Seven Heroes of Olympus, about what Calex had to go through, about her sister drowning in turquoise fire and how that might relate to a rising god. The shift in scenery didn't become apparent to her until she heard Axel snarl, " _Cho!"_

When she focused her eyes, she registered the beach was missing. At first, she wondered if Poseidon often grew bored with beaches and moved them. Did Alaskans ever have the pleasure of having several thousand tons of sand and warm water dumped onto their shoreline? Not that it mattered, but it gave her a certain amount of pleasure to imagine a pack of confused huskies frolicking in the surf.

In place of the beach, there was a beautiful sunroom… or she at least assumed it was sunroom through all her squinting. Windows lined the length of two walls. The other two walls, furniture, ceiling, and floor were all various shades of ivory with gold and blue accents. Currently, she and Joey resided on a couch embroidered with images of the sun breaking through the clouds, one comfortable enough to induce laziness, though Euna needed little encouragement.

Axel stood several feet away, tracing the frames of the window. There were no latches on any of the windows and the glass must have been six inches thick, considering the depth of the frames.

Other than the light flooding the room, enough that the addition of a disco ball might permanently blind everyone, Euna couldn't see much outside. Maybe the shoreline of another beach?

"Oh good, you're here!" came the voice of a frantic woman.

Standing in the only doorway to the large sunroom was a lovely woman. Her blond hair rippled and altered like it was refracting in the light. Her eyes were the same blue as the sky outside. She wore a sun dress of sapphire and gold. With her deep, golden tan, she looked more like a statue to match the room than a person.

Axel's hand immediately gripped the sword hilt strapped to his back. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The goddess looked offended. A noiseless flash made Euna flinch. When she managed to blink away the dots, everyone was in the same spot. Nothing seemed to have happened. The goddess had her fists clenched at her side, still indignant, and she exhaled shakily.

She huffed. "Ever since that upstart Titaness, Eos, became popular, no one recognizes me! Uh! She's always trying to steal other people's light—even Artemis's moonlight—You'd think they'd lock her up with Hyperion after the Titan War but-" This time her exhale was sharp. She flattened out her dress then delicately laced her fingers together. "I am Hemera, Protogenos of the Day."

"Protogenie?" Joey repeated.

"Darling, sit up, you're slouching," she gently chastised before explaining, "A primordial god—one that existed before even Kronos…" Sadness filled her eyes, making them look a darker blue. Upon scrutiny, Euna realized they _were_ a darker blue, shifting to match the color of the sky outside.

Hemera perked up, tightening her fingers. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not very used to doing this. I try to stay out of all that petty mythology making and quest giving. Too much drama! But I—unfortunately I'm in dire need."

Euna tried to think about what a primordial goddess could be in dire need of. Offerings? Shrines? McDonalds? Now was a pretty inconvenient time to be kidnapped, considering lunch should be starting up soon and the Tyche cabin was cooking today. Besides the eminent absence of amazing food, Euna wanted to generally avoid this whole quest-receiving thing. She hadn't wanted to do their excursion to Howe Cavern a month ago. It had been too dangerous. Anything Hemera would request would be as dangerous and attract too much attention from the gods.

At the awkward pause where Axel looked annoyed and Euna frowned, Joey asked—shoulders back this time, "So… what is it?"

"Someone poured all of my grains onto my kitchen floor," Hemera said.

"What?" Axel growled.

"And my guests will be here any minute!" she cried. "Oh, I know it was Eos who did it! She even left a note that said, 'My kitchen is cleaner than yours' and I guarantee she'll check just to mock me. She's always looking for ways to ruin me. I mean, this is supposed to be a girl's day and I know she'll end up bringing over one of her male… _friends_." Hemera upturned her nose. "And she always arrives to places too early. I think she does it on purpose. She likes to see people off balance and groggy."

"Who is Eos exactly?" Euna asked, already feeling a little off balance.

"The Goddess of Dawn," Hemera snapped.

Euna had to agree: Dawn did need to be taught a lesson about coming too early. Especially when she had a project due the next day.

Hemera smoothed out her dress again. As her fingers touched the fabric, it seemed to have a soothing effect on her expression as well. In middle school, back in Georgia, Euna had a teacher with a similar disposition: nervous and proper. Euna had to wonder what it felt like—being put in charge of assuring the daylight, only to have your full purpose for existence taken from you by someone younger and, from how Hemera spoke of Eos, more romantically coveted.

Euna wanted to ask why Hemera didn't just take it back if she was so frustrated with Eos, but she didn't really get gods or titans, so figured it was best to keep quiet on the whole immortal matter.

"I don't really know how the whole _Rent-A-Hero_ thing works," Hemera admitted apologetically. "But you came highly recommended and if you could sort the cereal back in a timely manner, I will… reward you."

"And what if we refuse?" Axel asked. His hand still clutched his sword, though this Hemera was too distracted to notice.

She looked genuinely hurt. Once she could get over her shock, she glared. "Wha—why—well—I won't send you back until it's done!"

Axel released his sword and folded his arms. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm no work dog for the gods."

Hemera's jaw hung open. It only closed at the sound of a woman talking through an intercom: "Hello Hemera! I'm sorry to have come so early, but I found this lovely scarf that I think would go wonderfully with the dress we talked about you wearing and I couldn't resist the—"

Euna was surprised. As the intercom rambled about fashion, she recognized the melodious voice. With each word, she could see Axel's face go paler. Although she assumed the front door was several rooms away, Euna thought she smelled the faintest scent of roses.

"Where's your kitchen?!" Axel demanded.

Hemera's eyes widened. "You'll—you'll help?"

"Yes, but kitchen, now," Axel commanded in the most militaristic tone she could ever imagine someone using with a goddess. "Euna, Joey, at attention."

Joey raised her eyebrows at him. "At attention? I don't think so _Dad_."

Axel's eyes glistened dangerously.

Euna grabbed Joey's arm and dragged her to her feet. If they had to do this, they should get it over with quickly. "Come on. We have to do this anyway." Besides, afterwards, they could probably go straight to lunch. And sorting grains for two daughters of Demeter? Axel probably wouldn't have to lift a finger.

Joey's nostrils flared. She huffed, but followed when Hemera frantically motioned them through the doorway.

On the other side was a kitchen worthy of a small mansion—well, a patio kitchen. The roofing was held up by two rows of columns in place of the far walls, opened to some sort of cliff side by the sea-sky. When Euna examined the blue, she realized what she had mistaken for a tide was really just strips of air. They were floating in the earth's atmosphere.

A fire roared in the middle of the patio. Ancient, bronze pots and pans lined the walls, neatly tucked beside an upscale refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave, kinda like Frigidaire had invented time travel just to do product placement in a history textbook. There were vases and pots with Tupperware tops labeled, _Don't be mad like Gaea, Get Euthymia![footnote 1]_

In a ring around the fire, cereal was scattered in mounds: Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies among other varieties. Wind spirits bustled around the kitchen, trying to organize the cereal into several open jars and making it _far_ worse.

"Oh, shoo! Shoo!" Hemera called, waving her hand.

Upon hearing her, the wind spirits dove off the side of the cliff and drifted away.

Euna sighed as she stared at the mess. Before she could voice the source of her annoyance, Joey gaped. "You said _grains_."

"Yes," Hemera said as though she didn't see the problem.

This would be much harder than Euna had anticipated. She extended her senses, trying to feel out the mashed up corn, rice, oats and… other various ingredients.

Hemera frowned. "Oh…. Cereal…. Grains… Whiskey… I forget what you call it these days."

Euna shuddered. At least they weren't sorting through a vat of liquids. "How much time do we have?" she asked.

"Hmmmm," Hemera thought while wringing her hands together. "Maybe five to fifteen minute—"

"Hemera!" Aphrodite's voice came from somewhere in the house. "The wind spirits let me in—I _love_ the chocolate scent you're using in the house now, very-"

Axel herded Hemera back to the door. "Stall your guests! We'll take care of this!"

"Thank you!" Hemera cried, relieved to tears. "Please, make sure you put ALL of the cereal away in the right jar. Demeter will notice if it's not right!" Then the goddess rushed through the door, closing it tightly behind her.

Axel whirled on the Song sisters. He bent down, picking Cheerios out of the mix. Watching Axel-a muscular, tall boy with battle scars decorating his body, strapped with enough blades to set off a metal detector from a mile away—pick up Cheerios made Euna seriously reconsider her use of the words _never in a lifetime._ "What's the best way to go about doing this?" he asked.

Joey folded her arms, apparently enjoying this as much as Euna was. "What happened to not being a work dog for the gods?" she asked.

He clenched his jaw. "Seriously," he growled. "What can I do to make this…" He glanced at the door when Aphrodite's beautiful laugh echoed through it. "Make this go fast…"

Euna and Joey exchanged a glance. Joey asked, "Axel, is your mother Demeter?"

He'd gathered about six Cheerios by this point. "No," he muttered.

His nervousness was going to be a distraction from… whatever they did. Euna should probably subtly give him a task to get him out of the way...

"You can patrol that ledge over there," she suggested, gesturing at the columns. "In case a… giant pigeon decides to fly in."

Axel's shoulder slumped. He glanced at his handful of Cheerios, seeming to realize the futility of his actions. He gave her a sheepish smile and pointed to an open jar beside him. "Can this one be for Cheerios at least?"

She nodded, surprised how much he sounded like his little brother.

Axel dropped the cereal into the jar, listening to it tap the bottom of the ceramic before he went to the all important job of guarding the column and keeping out of the way.

Euna exhaled and knelt beside one pile. She expanded her senses, feeling out the variety of food-things. This was going to take a lot of effort and concentration. She found herself wondering if it was really _that_ big a deal whether or not Hemera's guests saw the piles. She also debated whether or not they could rent out a local kindergarten and ask the toddlers to pick out the sugary ones.

While she was considering how to approach this, Joey knelt down a few feet away, made a fist, and pulled it towards herself like she'd lassoed the rowdy almost-grains. A dozen Frosted Flakes skid her way. Joey grinned in excitement. "I'll bet I can do this faster than you can," she said.

Euna shrugged. "You probably can."

Joey's smile turned into a scowl. She huffed and set to work on her corner.

After about thirty seconds of their sorting and Axel anxiously pacing by the columns, Euna realized, at their current rate, they probably wouldn't finish this task in time. The likelihood of it decreased further when Joey snapped, "Why didn't you tell me about the scythe and the box?"

Euna didn't look up. She was seriously debating what would be a worse eternal punishment: sorting cereal or folding Hades's socks.

"Why didn't you?" Joey repeated.

Euna sighed but still didn't look up. She shouldn't have been surprised that Joey couldn't wait until they were alone to talk about this. "Why didn't you tell me about the turquoise fire?" she snapped back.

There was a pause where Euna could only hear Axel's sharp footsteps and the gentle tapping of cereal as Joey continued to command it into separate jars. Euna glanced at her. Her sister glared solemnly at the floor. "A few years ago, you could have done this task in seconds," she muttered.

Euna stopped sorting the cereal and glared. _Joey_ had bought up the subject and now _she_ wanted to change it? "What if that prophecy has to do with Persephone's?" Euna demanded.

Axel had stopped pacing, but was too distracted by something off in the distance to comment on their conversation.

Joey's fist slammed into the ground. "Don't you think I've already thought about that?!" she cried. Tears welled at the rims of her eyes. She furious tried to rub them away, smudging her already smeared eyeliner.

Persephone's words resurfaced in Euna's mind _, "_ _neither you nor I can change her fate. A rising god_ _ **will**_ _kill her."_

They never talked about the prophecy. Euna always assumed Joey hadn't taken it seriously or that she didn't really understand. After Euna told her their half-sister's warning, Joey continued life like nothing happened: going to her dance practices, flirting with boys, crushing people in their fighting classes. This was the first time Euna had seen her react. She wanted to give her a hug, but she also wanted to slap her in the face.

The slide of metal echoed from the ledge, making Joey jump and reach for a weapon she didn't have on her.

Axel had drawn his sword.

Not many things surprised Euna. When she saw two plump, white birds the size of a jet skis land on the patio edge beside Axel, she blinked. She had to remind herself she was correcting a childish prank against the primordial goddess of dawn; anything could happen.

The white birds cooed at one another. Pink harnesses enlaced with colorful seashells trailed after them over the side of the patio. They tilted their head hungrily towards the cereal.

"Pigeons?" Euna balked.

"No..." Axel swallowed. He took a step to place himself further between the birds and the cereal. "Those are Aphrodite's doves. They must have escaped from her chariot after she drove it over."

Euna decided not to speculate on why Axel would know Aphrodite's doves by sight. One of the birds experimentally hopped towards their breakfast mixer. Axel bapped its beak with the flat of his blade. The bird jumped back, looking more offended than injured. Euna was surprised he didn't just make a quick poultry roast with them. When she looked around, Euna realized it might be difficult to explain to Hemera why feathers had intermixed with her Fruit Loops. Besides, what if Aphrodite wanted cereal? There must have been a special place in the Fields of Punishment for someone who chopped up someone's pet and fed it to them for lunch, probably somewhere by Tartarus

Every time relatives came into town, her dad made them take a trip to DC to show off the sites. In DC, Euna had seen how fast pigeons could swipe a french fry out from under someone's hand. With that exact speed, these two doves dove at Axel.

This time, when Axel swatted the second dove, his sword bent on contact. The dove staggered back, surprised. In a blur, Axel kicked the first one away from one of the piles.

"I understand-" he grunted while twisting to avoid having his arm pecked off, "-the importance of... talking it out... but could you continue to work while you do so- _ay!-please_?"

He drew a dagger from his belt to deflect another beak attack. The blade shattered. Euna had forgotten his weapons always broke within a hit or two. She wondered why he even _bothered_ carrying blades on him.

She extended her senses out, trying to feel some urgency. Whenever she'd made the walnut tree grow from a nut in Howe Caverns, she knew Python would have killed them if she'd failed. When they were fighting the hydra earlier, she knew it would melt her, her sister, and their house to acid if she didn't succeed.

Here, they were doing a menial task for some poor primordial goddess that couldn't fade away but was clearly being forgotten. The worst that could happen was apparently an attack from two fat, flamboyantly clad angry birds. And it was another quest from a god-something Euna had been desperately trying to avoid for her and Joey.

Euna gave a half-hearted pull on some Cheerios. Another force tugged them the opposite direction and the pieces scattered.

"Is that why you gave up?!" Joey demanded. Tears still wet her cheeks, dripping the remains of her eyeliner down in black streams.

Euna had no idea what she was talking about, but snarled, "Joey, if you think you can do this better—"

"I _can't_ do it better. I've _never_ been able to do things better than you," Joey shouted. She dashed her hand to the side to emphasize the "never." One mound by her exploded in the same direction.

"Joey!" Axel snapped. "Talk and work!"

In the background, Euna could see he was losing patio ground to the birds. He darted back and forth to dodge their beaks, then would duck down to strike up with the flat of his hand or a kick. He appeared to be out of functional weapons. The bent frying pan in his left hand made Euna wince. Many a delicious egg would now never be fried in that pan.

Euna wanted to assure him, _No. Joey doesn't need to talk and work. She just needs to work. As a matter of fact, the world would be a happier place if she never talked again._ Euna didn't know where her little sister was going with this and was hoping—if she wished hard enough—that Joey's mouth would disappear from her face all together.

That tactic did not work.

Though her wish for it and Joey's unusual tears made Euna feel like a terrible older sister. A bubble of frustration and anger threatened her stomach. She _hated_ feeling guilty.

"Do you know how proud I was in middle school to say you were my sister?" Joey demanded. "To be related to the best fighter of our age group in jujitsu, krav, and hapkido, the girl with the highest GPA, the first chair violinist—gods!" Joey released an irritated shriek. The sound distracted the birds long enough for Axel to hop onto one's back to jam an empty basket on its head.

By now, Euna was trying desperately to ignore Joey. She turned back to the cereal, weakly feeling for the different types of grains. She didn't want to have this conversation. They didn't _need_ to have this conversation. The image of Persephone kept flashing through Euna's mind. After Euna received the prophecy, she checked those potted plants every night to see if Persephone would come back. When they moved and planted them in Virginia, she stared at them through her window, waiting for Persephone to say, "Psych! Got ya good with that prophecy. Let's go roast some s'mores, sing about planting stuff, and plan some eco-terrorism for the next housing company that buys up farmland." But it never happened. Persephone never deemed it worthy to let Euna in on the joke and Euna's worry grew.

Joey flipped her black and pink hair—more a futile attempt to cool her tears than any kind of vanity. Despite Euna's measures to ignore her and wishful thinking for silence, Joey shouted, "And competing with you? It used to be a challenge. I want to look up to you again!" She gestured to where Axel was now bull riding one pigeon into another. "The same way that Pax looks up to Axel!" Axel was too preoccupied to appreciate the sentiment. Joey released another huff and snarled, "But you just gave up! And now you're always holding back! Now you're just some shut-in that hides in her room! I'll bet it's ever since you found out about that _stupid_ prophecy!"

Euna trembled. She tried to zone out, the way she had taught herself when she saw Ancient Greek monsters as a child, but she couldn't get herself to unfocus. Everything felt like it was slowing down—the way the dove frantically hopped to knock Axel off, the way he brandished his dented frying pan, the way Joey slammed her fist into the ground like she could crack Euna's exoskeleton of apathy to find an ambitious, competent individual underneath. Euna's frustration and guilt mounted until she felt like someone had popped a full bag of burning corn in her chest. "Prophecies are for important people!" Euna cried. She wanted her senses to loosen, but she could feel every piece of every grain in the room. A sob lingered at the back of her mouth as she said, "Only important people. I thought—I thought—if I wasn't heroic, if we were normal—if we were just kids and not exceptional—it wouldn't happen! Maybe—maybe—"

"You've heard what everyone has said about them—" Joey snapped. "You can't change prophecies—"

"Don't say that Joey—"

"You're stupid to think acting different would change anything! If I'm going to die anyway—at _some_ point in the future—" Joey huffed and tossed her hair again at the word _some_. "—then I'd rather be proud of my sister before I do!" Joey sat back, scowling. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still puffy and red with stripes of black from the smudged eyeliner. Her arms were folded. "I'm not going to let this prophecy rule me. I don't want it to rule you either." She released a shaky laugh, tilting her chin up in false bravado. "Do you have any idea how awful it is to compete when your rival isn't trying?"

Euna thought about how life was two years ago, how she let her grades slip, how she'd decided not to excel at fighting or music or anything for that matter. It had seemed easier not to care. If you don't care about things, it doesn't matter if you lose them.

She stared at her little sister in the present. Joey was trying to look confident but she was terrified that Euna would just ignore her and curl into the apathetic shell of Eunaland. Euna had never understood how Joey could take the prophecy so lightly, but she was starting to realize—Joey _hadn't_ taken the prophecy lightly. She'd accepted it and continued the fight, like any Song should.

 _I'd rather be proud of my sister before I do_.

Euna felt her mind refine its focus. She had a reason to do this.

"Joey," she said. "Go help Axel."

Joey balked. "Augh! Are you serious? You're going to just pretend I didn't say all those nice things about you—"

From behind them, where one dove had bitten Axel's leg and thrown him off the other's back into a wall full of pans, she heard Axel's shout, "HEY! Axel says help Axel too! Do your job!"

"Fine!" Joey huffed. She stomped to her feet, clutching her fists at her side, and stormed towards the doves. "I'll go help Ax—"

The world felt like it froze. Euna closed her eyes, exhaled, and honed in on the Cheerios, feeling out the whole grain oats, separating it from the similar ingredients in Kix by feeling out the amount of corn and wheat starch in each.

 _Someone to be proud of_. Euna clenched her hand and dragged her fist toward the designated Cheerios jar. Instead of picturing Persephone's face, she imagined a line of superspeed ants tossing the cereal in. A roaring clatter exploded in the room. Axel and Joey shouted in alarm. Wings fluttered.

Joey shouted again. The frying pan clanged against something. One of the birds squawked.

Euna kept her eyes closed. Despite Joey's alarmed shriek, Euna knew her little sister would be fine; Joey was an excellent fighter. When Euna had given up, Joey had taken all of Euna's slack.

Although she only had a vague idea of where Joey, Axel, and the birds might have shifted to fight, she knew exactly where the remnant grains were. They tugged towards each other, like they wanted to help her, to be reunited, but needed a tiny, extra push.

Euna cracked her eyes open. Another empty jar lay to her left. She _pushed_ the Rice Krispies in.

Another roar erupted as an avalanche of Rice Krispies flooded toward the jar.

She wasn't sure how many jars she filled or how many brands of cereal the Goddess of Day deemed necessary for a good start in the morning. Had this been her kitchen, this could have never happened-she only ever had one cereal in the house as she hated making important food choices when she first woke up.

However many it was, she found herself panting and sweating when she filled the last jar with _Shredded Wheat_. The continence made her wince, as she thought only retirement communities tortured people with stuff.

When she opened her eyes, there was a surprising lack of birds. Joey and Axel stood by the pillars, staring at her. Euna glanced over at the kitchen fire, wondering if they'd prepared some poultry kabob, but was disappointed to realize the doves weren't there either. The birds hadn't made a sound since she organized the Cheerios. They must have been startled and flown off at the rumbling of the breakfast food. Apparently Aphrodite's doves didn't support free range food.

Upon staring at the dozen jars she'd filled, horror clenched her stomach. Exacerbated, she sighed, "I just tried to make you proud by sorting cereal."

Axel shouldered his dented frying pan like it was an honored weapon. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. "That was pretty impressive," he said. "Now we just need to get Hemera to get us out of here."

Joey folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "Yea, it's not good enough. You'll have to try harder," she stated.

Although Euna wasn't sure, she thought Joey might have been biting back a grin.

Something broke in Euna. She remembered competing with Joey when they were younger. She would crush her little sister at everything: grades, fighting, even popularity. But Joey never gave up. Her little sister was tenacious, swearing she'd one day surpass Euna. For the first time, Euna tried to think of how disappointed and scared Joey was when Euna let herself fade into mediocrity and laziness. All Joey's bratiness-she had been trying to push Euna back into what she was.

Euna silently promised herself she'd never disappoint Joey again. Someone as strong and resilient as Joey wouldn't die anytime soon, prophecy or not.

From the way Axel was exploring the patio's edge and from Joey's eye roll, Euna must have zoned out. She blinked and staggered towards them, fumbling to sound angry. "You're such a-"

The kitchen door opened.

"-swore I heard shouting-oh!" A melodious giggle drifted into the room. The scent of roses made Euna pleasantly drowsy. That and sorting several hundred pounds of cereal, but she didn't notice it until the perfume.

Axel froze, the color draining out of his face.

In the doorway stood a beautiful woman in a floral patterned dress. Hemera fretted just behind her. Last time Euna saw Aphrodite, she remembered thinking that she'd looked a lot like a Greek version of that chick from the Hunger Games. Now, the goddess's hair seemed much shorter and a rich, raven color. There were freckles smattering her face and her eyes were a piercing blue.

Euna suddenly remembered that she owed Thalia Grace a call.

Aphrodite clapped her hands together once and rested her cheek against them. "Axel Pax! Oh, Hemera-" She unlaced her hand to wave one. "-I didn't realize you ordered us some entertainment—you shouldn't have!"

Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. He raised his frying pan toward the goddess, then realized how ridiculous it must have looked and clenched his jaw. Euna remembered how-last time these two met-Axel had tried to decapitate Aphrodite. This had seemed a little extreme to Euna, but she wasn't one to judge. She'd wanted to decapitate Apollo for flirting with her sister the first time she met him.

"We're no god's entertainment," Axel managed to sound firm. He spread his hands out-frying pan included-to push Joey and Euna closer to the patio edge in a protective sweep. Euna hadn't realized how weak she was from sorting all the cereal until she stumbled against a support pillar.

She glanced down. There was nothing but sky between them and the ground for hundreds of miles. Upon narrowing her eyes, she realized they were above Camp Half-Blood, probably on a cloud or however gods decided to break physics to build their houses. She could make out the horseshoe of cabins, amphitheater, canoeing lake, and the Big House. Having never seen it from above before, it felt more like a map then reality.

Something swirled and glistened, maybe a dozen feet beneath them.

Before she could make out what, Hemera gently took Aphrodite's hand. "I just brought them here for some menial work. I'll just send them on their way-"

Aphrodite giggled and squeezed Hemera's fingers. Watching her face smooth into a smile made Euna giddy. "Oh nonsense! You can't let them leave without some refreshments. How would you three like some nectar? We can talk about your current prospects. Joey, I could drop Apollo a line for you-oh! How lovely it would be if he fell for you? Such a delightful tragedy! I love those!"

Her eyes shifted to an emerald green and Euna felt like the sweetness of her perfume had become too pungent. Nausea crept into her stomach. From the other side of Axel, she could see Joey's posture stiffen.

Hemera frowned, pressing her lips together.

Aphrodite either didn't pick up on her displeasure or ignored it. She took a step into the room, although it almost felt like the kitchen moved towards her in a desperate attempt to please her. Her fingers touched the pink scarf wrapped around her neck, glistening warmly in the sun and fire light.

Euna could see the muscles in Axel's arms tense.

"I didn't know you were renting yourself out to goddesses Axel," she cooed. Aphrodite sighed and checked her fingernails. They were perfect. "If you're done with them-" she glanced at Hemera. "-then I might lock them up in a box and take them home as a goodie bag after the party. Oh! Thalia and Apollo could come save Euna and Joey-or maybe Pax will get Joey-regardless there would be so much confusion and romance!"

Euna blinked, not quite sure what Aphrodite was talking about, though she did find it odd how Aphrodite didn't mention Axel getting saved.

Hemera didn't seem to want to contradict Aphrodite but the idea clearly upset her from her increased frown.

Axel's muscles relaxed. A weird smile contorted his face. "I'll go to Tartarus before I become your slave," he said.

The dreamy glint in Aphrodite's eyes turned amused.

Until Axel threw himself backwards, arms slamming into Joey and Euna's torsos to knock them clean off the patio. For a moment, they felt suspended in the air. Euna could see the blank stares of surprise on the goddesses' faces.

Then the patio ledge disappeared above her. Wind screamed in her ears and she wondered if they'd start to draw Camp Half-Blood tour maps with three splattered figures on the beach.

She didn't have time to reach a root out from under the house. Euna realized-to her stunned horror-that they were free falling from several hundred feet above the ground.

* * *

Footnote 1: One of the Charites, the spirit of joy and _glad_ ness.


	7. Aj: That's a Grapeful of Mouth

Seven: Ajax

That's a Grapeful of Mouth

Pax wanted to tell Team Pax about his nightmares about as much as he wanted Hercules to hit him in the face. However, he didn't just dash away from the beach to dodge the question; he also didn't want to miss prank hour. Connor Stoll had a nice scheme that involved Chiron and a pinata, but it would require a lot of manpower to pull it off.

The fact that Kally was in hot pursuit after him was just a bonus-though he personally believed everything she did was hot.

He was about two dozen feet away from the group when something grabbed his foot and he faceplanted into the ground. Being a trained acrobat, Pax didn't often get the honor of such clumsiness. And falling like that was dangerous. He could have broken his nose-which would have been terrible; he'd been told his nose was quite adorable.

After he rolled over and sat up, he found a vine wrapped tightly around his ankle. He thought about sending his pet weasels to crawl into Joey Song's bedroll that night, until clusters of tiny, indigo fruit bloomed into existence on the vine.

When encountering an unidentified plant that may or may not be poisonous, Pax did the reasonable thing: he plucked a piece off and popped it into his mouth. A sharp contrast of sweet and tart made him press his lips together, like an exploding version of a WarHead candy. _Grapes_ , Pax realized. _Very, very sour grapes. Couldn't give me delicious grapes?_

Once Pax glanced over at the others, they were still chatting on the beach. The daughter of Dionysus gave him a friendly wave. Pax glanced down at the grape vine, then back up to Merry. Had she not been claimed already, Pax decided she would have made a great Hermes cabin mate.

"You forgot your pants!" Kally shouted. She stumbled to a halt a few feet away from him, cradling Pax's pants, utility belt, and combat boots.

There were several inappropriate, flirtatious responses Pax could choose from, but the optimum one for the time was, "Watch the darts!"

He scrambled and snagged the belt from her hands. Had she been a little less lucky, she might have nicked her hand on one of the darts lodged into his belt, or popped open a vial of sleeping serum, or set off one of his last smoke bombs, or-Ancient Heroes preserve them!-broken one of his EpiPins. He never knew what vile tree nuts might be lurking around and he hated being under equipped.

Kally looked a little stunned, then blushed and glanced off to the side. She tossed his pants and combat boots to him. Her shy throw was cute when his pants struck him in the face. Less so when the combat boots came after.

" _Ay_!" Pax almost didn't catch the boots before they struck him; but-fortunately for his boots-his nose would stay cute for at least another day. "Kally, watch where you're throwing things!" he complained, squirming back into his pants. After a quick check, he was pleased to find he'd been wearing his yellow pegasus boxers. Those had made her blush before, when his mother had woken up Camp Half-Blood with a decoy golden apple so he and Axel could kidnap Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Kally folded her arms and put a hand to her mouth. "Pax…" She looked pensive. He could tell she wanted to ask something

 _Nervous_ _ **and**_ _hesitant: she needs to hear something more ridiculous than her question in order to ask it._ Pax finished lacing up his boots and instead laced his fingers together, smoothing his expression into a serious one. "Yes, I do think sharks are more morally correct than dolphins," he stated.

Kally blinked. "What?"

"It's obvious that's what you were about to ask," he said. "You don't agree? Dolphins are jerks."

A faint smile showed through her hand. It was rare for one of Pax's comments to leave someone smiling, especially not someone he liked as much as Kally. He decided to savor it until Kally asked, "What are your nightmares about?"

Pax would have vastly preferred a conversation on the ethical behavior of sea creatures-something he'd have to ask Kally about later as it was an important question. For now, he gave her one of his dashing grins. "I had that one dream about a boar with a bowtie," he answered.

The smile disappeared. "Pax, this is serious."

"I take boars in bowties very seriously," he defended. And he had. Phobetor had been quite alarming when he showed up in Pax's dreams as overtly raw ham.

Kally frowned and hugged herself tighter.

Pax puffed out his cheeks and popped them. He knew it wasn't fair. He knew her secrets—even if by circumstance than nothing else. He knew her mom was either attacked by Apollo or cheated on Kally's father for her conception. He knew she was terrified of the dark and that she used to have a crush on the lead actor in their drama department-a guy named Kurt that Pax decided he needed to show up one day, just in case. A few back flips would probably do.

Meanwhile, Pax was about as honest as a presidential candidate during the primaries. What few things she _had_ figured out, she couldn't tell anyone. She'd taken an oath on the River Styx that she wouldn't share Pax's secrets or expose his lies. Of course this oath was taken under false pretenses-she thought he was Nico Di Angelo at the time-but he didn't know if that counted and certainly wouldn't tell her if he thought it didn't.

Earlier, she'd caught herself on a near slip-up about the Leonis Caput helmet hidden in the Paxmobile. Pax hoped she stopped herself because she cared about them and not because she didn't want to be eternally cursed by a river of hate and detestation and general annoyance but... it probably had a lot more to do with the eternal cursing.

Pax squirmed against his conscience. If he was going to force her into keeping secrets, he should at least give her good ones.

"They're about Axel," he blurted.

She blinked in surprise, glancing down at him. _On tonight's showing of unusual and scary: gather around. Not only is Ajax Pax telling the truth-he's being blunt about it! Watch the next episode to find out Axel Pax's intimate connection with underwater basket weaving._

Pax watched Axel and Calex on the surf, chatting. Merry had started to walk in their direction. He massaged his right palm. "Well, it's about the Leonis Caput..."

That was conveniently when Joey, Euna, and Axel poofed in a golden rainfall.

On the list of ways Pax didn't want to spend his morning, watching his brother eviscerate into tiny light particles was pretty high up there. Well, the particles themselves were pretty and going high into the sky, but the sight of them didn't make Pax feel any better.

Pax was on his feet and running past Merry, towards the abduction spot. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find-a ransom note, a clue, or directions to some random train track where he'd find Axel tied up like a proper damsel in distress.

All he found was a confused Brit.

"What did you do?!" Pax demanded.

Calex had been standing there, stupefied. At the accusation, he shook his head. "I can't make people disappear!" he snapped. As an afterthought, he frowned at his hands. "Er… I hope."

"You can't," the voice came from the shoreline. At first, Pax thought Kally or Merry might have ninjaed their way around to catch up with them, but both girls-Merry lazily picking up her grapevine as she walked-were still on their way over. The user's voice was too confident for Kally's and too serious for Merry.

When Pax whirled around, he found some kind of scientist or surveyor or coast guard or ghetto time traveler. The woman was tall and regal. She had long, black hair, tucked into a ponytail, under a baseball cap. She wore heavy work pants, a plaid overshirt, and knee-high water boots, like she'd been sogging around for a dead mermaid to wash ashore all morning. Blueprints were tucked under one of her arms; the other held a collection of vial samples. When she tilted her head down, sliding her tinted glasses to the bridge of her nose, she revealed calculating grey eyes. A sense of annoyance overtook Pax and he realized this was a goddess.

Pax hoped Calex would ask, " _oh yea, and how would you know?_ " so the goddess would turn Calex into some sort of insect, but unfortunately the son of Eros was too surprised by the goddess's presence; Pax's hopes for a six legged Calex would be crushed until another day.

"As a mortal," the goddess asked as Merry meandered alongside them, "when two gods vie for a show of deference, how do you decide which to pick?"

Pax was about to answer, " _whoever has the coolest hat and gets me my brother back_ ," but Merry beat him to it. "You pay honors to both," she said.

The goddess's eyes flashed and Pax was pretty sure he saw the downfall of thousands of heroes. Either that or his empty stomach was making him unsettled. It was always hard to tell the difference between a god trying to scare you and indigestion.

Calex and Kally exchanged a confused glance.

The goddess considered. "Insult both gods with indecision instead of honoring one," she asked, though it sounded more like a warning than a question.

Merry half-smiled. She tilted her head to one side, examining the continents of the goddess's hands. "You're looking productive and beautiful Athena," she greeted, like they were meeting in an ice cream shop.

"Athena?" Calex echoed, eyes widening. "Annabeth's mum?"

Both Merry and Athena ignored him. Mostly. Athena gave him a knowing smile. Probably for the best that they didn't exchange proper greetings, since Calex looked ready to ask for an autograph. Merry continued, "What irritant is bothering you that we can thank for such an honor and such a lovely brain teaser?"

"And what have you done wi-"

Pax might have been more creative than repeating the question he gave Calex, but the universe would never know. About halfway through his sentence, Merry jammed a fistful of sour grapes into his mouth. Although Pax had never seen Merry lift a finger in combat, she was surprisingly fast.

Athena's gaze may have flickered with some humor. Pax couldn't tell. He was reenacting the disputed death of Attila the Hun. More horrifying, he could actually feel a grape burst and sprout inside his mouth, a vine slipping out his lips, wrapping its way around the back of his head and clamping his mouth shut.

As though he didn't have an oral chia pet problem, Athena responded to his unfinished question. "I was not involved in the disappearance of your companions, though…" She glanced up. "I suspect it has to do something with Hemera's party."

"Hemera's party?" Kally repeated. She kept glancing nervously at Pax. From what he could tell, she wasn't sure if she should be trying to help him or not and felt guilty about it. He tried to communicate directions on punching Merry in the face. Kally didn't seem to understand.

"I have more sensible things to do than attend frivolous lunch parties, but I suspect something went wrong already. Hemera tried to delay the event on Facebook but Aphrodite is already over there, posting pictures on her Instagram."

"You follow Aphrodite's Instagram?" Calex asked. He looked more startled than when Axel had disappeared.

Athena's smile went wry. "It would be an unwise strategy to incur the type of drama involved in unfollowing her…. Now, as for the… irritant as Merry espoused. I need you to collect something for me." Athena tossed her samples to the side, waved an owl into existence, and the owl flew off with the vials. Normally, Pax would have been enchanted with that trick. At the moment, he'd resolved to crossing his arms and sulking at Merry until she unleashed the deadly terror of his vocal cords.

He couldn't think of what Hemera would want with Axel-other than the obvious since _everyone_ should want a Pax boy-but if Aphrodite was there, it couldn't have been good.

While Pax wondered where divine spirits went when they kidnapped people, Athena mercilessly continued without any indication of caring about his plight. "The Society of Marine Biologists received enough funding to erect a new museum, but there is a debate over which god they want to honor in the museum's atrium."

Merry hummed a soft laugh. "Do you want them to call the museum Athens in the end?"

Pax remembered the gist of that myth: Athena and some minor sea god… oh, what was his name? Oh. _Poseidon_ got into a fight over Athen's patronage. For that myth, Pax was annoyed the city's name didn't come with a spoiler warning. [footnote 1]

From the pride and confidence in Athena's gaze, she hadn't forgotten who won the last fight. "I want them to recognize, without the grace of wisdom and the curiosity of research, they wouldn't have any knowledge." Her cold gaze turned to the sea. "Some gods prefer to be mysterious and temperamental rather than helpful."

Pax wanted to disagree: he thought all gods preferred to be mysterious and temperamental. Helpful might be an overarching antonym for the bunch. If she were helpful, she'd tell him how to get his brother back and remove the grapevine from his mouth before it fermented and he got arrested for underage drinking.

"I have a skilled scholar on hand that is an excellent weaver ready to be inspired," Athena continued. "But there's a special material they will need to make a tapestry beautiful enough to convince the Society of Marine Biologists to build the museum in my honor. I need them to be able to start before the end of the night." Kally perked up at the comment. "You have rapid transport and your combined skill set is logical."

"What material do you need?" Calex asked.

Athena smiled. "The golden locks of Aphrodite's sheep. I don't need a lot, just enough for strategic accenting. You'll find the sheep in the glade in New York City, pen 316."

Calex, Kally, and Pax all exchanged glances. Merry kept her eyes pointedly on the goddess. Pax gestured fiercely from Kally's mouth to Athena. _Someone_ had to point out the logical flaw here. As much as he wanted to play charades with the goddess of wisdom—

"You want us to shear sheep…" Kally meeped quietly. "In the middle of New York City?"

On the list of reasons why Pax wanted to kiss Kally, he'd have to add, _willing to state the obvious in the face of eminent smiting._

Athena's smile took on a humorous quality. "They'll be there. I need you to get it and bring it back to me within the next hour. It might be wise to hurry beyond my time requirements." Athena's tilted her chin up to look at the sky. "Your companions might need you before then."

* * *

Footnote 1: And Pax understands the Athenian's decision, as he believes Poseidoians sounds dumb, but will never say that to Percy or to Poseidon.


	8. Kally: Bare Necessities are Lacking

Eight: Kally

The Bare Necessities… Are Lacking

As they drove further into New York City, saying the trip was a little bumpy was like saying smoking _might_ be cancerous.

Once Athena gave them the coordinates and further instructions to get everyone inside the targeted building as subtly as possible, they went off to find Matt working on the Paxmobile. Matt _said_ the suspensions he'd added to the van were ready for a test run for Luke, the golden ass.

Kally decided she'd have to curse him with rhyming for the next month. Either Matt had a very different idea of what suspensions were supposed to do or he had a cruel sense of humor. Being Pax's friend, she assumed the latter.

Pax sat in the driver's seat, probably more to make him feel better since the Golden Ass needed no directions as it tugged the van along. Luke-or Lucius when they wanted to call him by his full name-blurred past or overtop of other cars with the ease of a leisure stroll. All Pax had to do was push the coordinates in at the start of the ride and Luke took over.

 _This will be the next thing to replace Uber_ , Kally thought, _Demigod Donkeys._

At least she and Pax had seat belts on, although she felt like they wouldn't do more than say, _here's a nice fabric hug before instant death_ in the event of a crash. Merry sat on the chest behind Kally's seat, clinging to her headrest and not enjoying her lack of seatbelt. Merry tried to look calm, but Kally could tell she was rattled. Calex was doubled over on the floor and looked like he'd rather try his luck at bull riding. Apparently he was unamused by "bloody mythical transport—finally got use to Vinyl and-" and the dry heaving that followed.

Fortunately, all the weapons lining the walls were strapped tight enough that they hadn't become projectiles of death. However, Hunnie and Baller-Pax's two Mist-form weasels that hated being called ferrets-had erupted from the hidden chest, crashing and sliding into each other so the back floor became a furry war zone. How and when—considering Merry was sitting on the chest—made Kally wonder if much Mist-form weasels had to abide by the laws of physics.

Kally felt guilty when she glanced at Calex. She was happy he was so nauseous, else the weasels' appearance may have given away where Pax brothers hid all their cursed armor and the Silver Festus's control disk. Not that she should still be keeping that a secret for them… not that she had any choice anymore with Pax's slimy dealings.

Merry shouted over the metal music that Pax was playing and the faint ding of his hands drumming the steering wheel, "This is one of the Trials of Psyche. We've started our prophecy."

Kally couldn't get over how upset Merry looked. Well, _all_ of them looked somewhat upset, as they were all pretty sure the van would shake to pieces and leave car parts and demigod parts scattered on the streets of New York. Plus, Pax was agitated and borderline panicking about his brother and Calex… poor Calex looked like he wouldn't want to eat for a century, maybe a few decades if he were lucky. In the past though, despite pop quizzes and disasters at their school plays, Merry usually looked so calm and was quick to make a joke. _This is her first quest_ , Kally realized. _Do demigods get first quest jitters?_

"How do you know?" Kally shouted back, hoping to keep Merry talking. Maybe it would calm her down. Merry would eventually say something to mock Kally and that would make both Merry and Pax relax. She was willing to take that hit if it meant getting the normal, humming Merry back.

"Collecting hair off sheep: that's the second trial that Aphrodite gave Psyche to prove she was good enough to marry Eros-as so few are lovely enough to get with this guy's dad," Merry winked over at Calex. There was the normal Merry. Inopportune as ever. No wonder she shipped Pax with Kally so hard-he was practically Merry's soul twin.

"Unless you want some pavement pizza on your face…." Calex cupped a hand over his mouth before he could finish the threat.

Merry hummed and smiled. "If it's anything like that myth though, these won't be any ordinary sheep," she warned. "These will be the most foul, cruel, bad-tempered fluffmuffins you've ever set eyes on, with razor sharp gummies and bones strewn around their green fields from past victims."

Kally tried to think what unordinary sheep would look like. All she could picture was tiny sheep with wool mohawks and spiked hooves on the…. vibrant steel fields of the New York skyscrapers. If these were evil, carnivorous sheep, did they graze on pigeons?

Pax puffed his cheeks up with air and popped them. "Do you think that's what Axel is doing?" he asked, pausing in his abusive drumming of the wheel.

Merry shrugged as much as she could while clutching onto Kally's seat. "Two daughters of Demeter did vanish. Psyche's first trial _was_ sorting grain. Maybe they wanted Axel to do pushups as a distraction since just sorting the grains would be too easy for them."

"Sounds like we found the _root_ of the disappearances," Pax said, but his playfulness sounded half-hearted. He glanced at the sun visor and frowned. "I miss Axel. He doesn't do well on his own-far too mopey and responsible." Pax's eyes narrowed and his yellow eye glistened fiercely. "If that witch puts her hands on him-"

"Then you'll be an intelligent demigod who doesn't insult or threaten goddesses because they might turn you into a baby panda," Merry advised. "He, Joey, and Euna will be fine without you, sweetie."

"I'd make an adorable baby panda," Pax said, sniffing and lifting his chin.

"You'd be a waste of conservation funds for everyone," Merry agreed.

As she said it, the van careened violently to the right. Calex rolled across the floor and slammed into the seat on the other side, cursing and groaning. Merry used one of her hands to grab his arm. Pax gripped the steering wheel reflexively. For the 124th time that day, Kally thanked the Greek goddess of safety for inventing seat belts, even if for the sense of false security.

A taxi had almost hit the left side of the van. It was also weaving at mythological-miles-per-hour.

Pax cracked the window so he could shake his fist. He shouted a few words in what Kally assumed be a mix between Kriol, Spanish, and Greek before finishing with "What are you, blind?"

Then he noticed something. His fist froze. He sheepishly rolled back up the window.

There were three women in the front seat of the taxicab and two alarmed looking demigods in the back. After nearly knocking their van into a _Cafe Grumpy_ , the taxi careened down a side street.

"Gray Sisters's Taxi?" Merry asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

"You'd think they'd make stickers or something- _Blind Driver in Transit_ ," Pax grumbled.

After the most recent near-death experience was out of the way, Merry's face fell again. Then the realization hit Kally. "Your mom is supposed to talk to the lawyer today, isn't she?"

Merry pressed her lips together. "Girl, you know me too well. I might need to hire Pax to assassinate you."

Pax shook his head. "You don't want to do that Merry. I like her and she's hot, so that would be a _really_ expensive job." He winked his yellow eye at Kally.

Instead of spending the extra second to digest Pax's comment, Kally debated on whether or not she should ask about this in public. They had a pact to help prevent one another from crying in front of others. Merry didn't look like she was sad, just tired. After Howe Cavern, they never had enough time to talk about what had happened and why Merry and her little brother, Nikhil, had ran away from her step dad's.

"Are you holding up okay?" Kally asked, figuring that was ambiguous enough that Merry could give a vague answer.

"My paperwork to be emancipated is in the works, but it's complicated dude. Chiron and Dad are helping me through the process. They have it all set up to look like I make enough money working at the strawberry patches at Camp Half-Blood to pay for my own rent." Now Merry was starting to sound sad. She stared at the back of Kally's head rest.

"Emaciated?" Pax tried to say.

A faint smile passed Merry's lips. "Emancipated. A fancy legal term. To be declared an adult before you turn eighteen. But you know big, ol' me can take care of myself. It's Nikhil I'm worried about. He's just a little one and I'm pretty sure he's going to have to choose between neglect, abuse, and foster care. Our next closest kin is in India… and Mom's an exceptional vintner and party host, but that skill set is not credible in front of a court of stiffs, especially when she keeps forgetting little things like appointments and documents. I'm trying to see if I can get Ariadne or Dad to help..."

Other than the horrifying squeak of the suspension and the quieted sound of Pax's music, the van was silent. Merry pressed her forehead against the back of the headrest. In a subtle movement, Kally could see Calex lift his other hand up to clasp the fingers Merry had steadying him.

Kally squeezed her shoulder. She felt like a terrible friend. All the past month, she'd been so engrossed with Mr. Paine's training, her nighttime chats with Pax, and moping over Merry's move and her own parent's infidelity that she hadn't even realized what was happening in Merry's life. And now she was being an even worse friend by tearing up and floundering to say something that would distract both of them from sobbing.

Fortunately, Pax's meanderings saved both of them from tears. "Wait," he said, looking thoughtful. "Shouldn't Ariadne hate your mom and her offspring? You know… cause Mr. D…"

Merry rubbed her face against her parka sleeve, a smile reinserting itself back onto her face. "Nah. Ariadne and my mom are close friends. She actually introduced my mom to my dad."

Kally tried to comprehend that for a moment. Then decided she really didn't _want_ to comprehend that.

"Oh…" Pax muttered.

"It's better not to dwell on it sweetie," Merry agreed.

As if Luke the Donkey also agreed, the van came to a grinding halt, sending everyone sliding. Hunnie and Baller skid against the chest, disappearing as soon as they made contact.

Several minutes past before they could get their bearings: Calex had to crawl outside to throw up on the sidewalk, Merry had to gingerly step around it and offer him some nectar, Kally had to hum the quick healing tune of "Blister in the Sun," and Pax had to get out to mock the Brit while Calex was too sick to catch him.

Trying to give Calex some privacy, Kally examined the street. Because she was so used to the suburbs, all big cities looked the same to her. She'd never been to New York City but her first impression was captured in two words: utter terror.

There were people milling about everywhere. They mostly kept to themselves, walking with a time-eminent purpose and a mean apathy to the purpose of other's. None of them seemed to mind though—each sorting in and out of food places with the practiced ease of a rehearsed dance number. Shops lined every nook, with signs lighting up for various clothing stores and restaurants.

Wind screamed through the skyscrapers, blasting Kally into a shiver. With the boundaries from camp and their sojourn on the beach, she'd forgotten the November chill. Despite it being midday, it was even colder here than it had been in Virginia, where she'd cleverly left her jackets.

This city had a special heartbeat to it, and it was one Kally found completely unfamiliar.

Behind them was a bronze statue of a man at a sewing machine. Kally blinked. From the blaring taxi cabs and buses, she had to wonder how the Paxmobile and attached donkey managed to make room for street parking. When she narrowed her eyes, she could see a different car had been shoved up onto the curb.

She gulped.

Once Calex could scrape his dignity off the sidewalk, and hopefully nothing else as the sidewalk had a lot of foot traffic, he managed to stand up. Kally wondered if his swig of nectar tasted like mouthwash due to his current circumstances. "We should park a street down. Your van looks like something creeps would snatch children in," he said to Pax.

Pax shrugged, standing as well, and taking an additional step outside of Calex's reach. "Technically, children ask to come with us. Axel and I don't snatch them."

Calex's expression darkened, apparently disliking his… humor? Kally was never sure if Pax was joking or if he was referencing people like her or… the abandoned demigods, like in the fliers he kept in his trunk.

Calex sighed and started checking for street signs while muttering, "You strike me as the kind of bloke always wanting to nick someone's cash card."

"I checked. You don't have one," Pax said by way of agreement.

Calex pivoted to face Pax, as though he was going to hit him, but two things got in the way. Merry, who quickly maneuvered between the boys, and Calex's motion sickness. Calex had to balance himself against the car, hand over his mouth.

Kally used this opportunity to squeak out, "Let's go!" through her shivers and push Pax along the sidewalk. Within seconds, Merry had grabbed them and directed them in the opposite direction. Kally was so used to Merry living with her stepfather in Virginia, she forgot Mrs. Blythe lived just outside the city.

"Honey, I know you want this to be a solo date instead of a double, but you're gonna get yourselves nice and lost if you wander off for some quality time," Merry teased.

This left Kally blushing miserably and Pax grinning like a satyr that caught a nymph to cuddle. Kally decided she'd need to have a real talk with Merry about this whole thing-not-thing she had with Pax. She thought about revealing to Merry that they'd kissed at night on her bed while her parents were asleep and immediately debated if Merry' mockery would be worth it.

They locked up the van, gave Luke a bucket of motor oil to snack on, and followed Merry. She said she knew the intersection and they weren't far away. Calex and she took the lead, folding easily into the crowd of the city. Kally was terrified she'd get swallowed, keeping as close to Merry's back and Pax's side as she could. As they walked, Kally had to wonder what the mortals saw instead of a parked golden ass. A parked carriage? Was it legal to park your donkey carriage in New York and leave it unattended? Could you have a donkey carriage?

Just before Kally's teeth chattered, Pax took off his duster jacket and slipped it around her shoulders. The worn leather came preheated from Pax's body. The chocolate smell was fainter and Kally realized it must have been dry cleaned recently. She was furious at how much the weight of the jacket calmed her down.

"Ten drachma and twelve Reese's Sticks debt now," he informed her, shooting her that devilish grin. He hugged himself against the wind. Knowing Pax, this was some convoluted plot to make her feel guilty. Stupid Pax for realizing it would work.

Merry stopped abruptly by a hot dog cart, which lead to Calex almost bumping into her and Pax slamming into his back.

Calex glared.

Kally stumbled.

"This is it," Merry said with a laugh.

Kally was expecting to see an empty lot of grass wedged between two skyscrapers. Instead, she found a fancy business front with two Greek style pillars, glass sliding doors, and two bodyguards in fashionable silk suits. Above the door, in etched golden letters, were the words: _The Glade: Where Fashion Meets the Divine._ There was an alley off to one side, and some other retailer to the other.

Merry's gaze narrowed. "Huh, big hunks outside the building? That's a bit odd." She nudged Kally. "Go get some munchies and crunchies for the group, would ya? I'm going to see what's happening."

Considering Kally had no interest in talking to the two poodles of the bouncer world, she readily agreed. She was in front of the vendor before remembering she only had $5.00 left over from yesterday's drama practice and guessed the cost of a hot dog in a major city like New York was a little pricer… like $100 per bun. They hadn't had the time to request quest money from Chiron…. Speaking of which, she wondered what Chiron thought they were off doing or if Will even noticed that she was gone. Her mortal family never did, but she felt like Will would get worried.

The vendor didn't pay immediate attention to her. He was too busy having a death-glare match with the bodyguards. Kally wondered how often they'd tried to run the guy off.

Calex cleared his throat and ordered four hot dogs for them, which Kally quickly corrected to three hot dogs and a bun. She was starting to panic, wondering if hot dog vendors used teenagers that couldn't pay to heat their carts, when Pax reached into the inside of his duster jacket, his hand brushing her waistline.

She jumped. He was too fast for her to smack him.

"I g-g-got it," he said through chattering teeth. He withdrew a fist full of singles and coins. Kally blinked. She assumed, with all their squatting at abandoned houses, that the Pax brothers never had money.

"You nick that too?" Calex growled softly.

Pax began to count out quarters on the street vendor's cart. The man never said a word through the whole thing, but stared at him in skeptic apathy. Kally had the horrifying thought that this man was a dead-on-the-inside, failed writer and wondered what it would be like to stand outside every day in the windy streets thinking about what he _could_ have done with his life.

"I g-get m-my m-money through completely leg-gal m-means," Pax stated indignantly. He finished counting out the quarters and moved to ones. He bumped Kally's shoulder. "S-s-street perform-mance is l-legal in DC r-r-right?"

She honestly didn't know, but couldn't handle the sight of Pax, trembling violently with his face scrunched up in concentration to count out the money. "B-besides, I oh-only s-s-steal when I f-feel like it, n-not when I'mmm in n-need."

The vendor didn't say a word to any of this. Instead, he swiped up the money, waving off the amount for Merry's bun. Pax did a little happy dance as he went to pour ketchup all over his hotdog.

Calex grunted his thanks, clearly irritated at having to owe Pax.

Once they were done preparing the food, Kally's guilt won. She stepped close to Pax and opened the jacket so she could pull him into it as well. His skin was frigid when it pressed up against her arm. While this made Kally feel even worse, Pax gave her a huge grin as he devoured his hotdog. He definitely planned this.

"I'm only doing this so I don't owe you more," she snapped.

"Nine drachma and eleven Reese's," he agreed, finishing off the hotdog in three Python-sized chomps.

"Ten Reese's," she corrected. "I gave you one last night."

"Oh sod off," Calex said, interrupting their exchange. Kally realized, to her horror, how much this sounded like adorable banter, and she was quite opposed to adorable banter. _And_ it would be third-wheeling banter. She thought Calex would be aggravated, but he seemed amused.

Kally wanted to shove Pax away, but-now that he'd warmed up-he was providing too much heat.

Fortunately, when Merry left the door guards, she was too enchanted with her bun and ketchup to do little more than wink at Pax.

"So… Aphrodite's sheep?" she said with a pause for a drum roll, which Pax provided against his empty hotdog container. "They're models. _The Glade_ is apparently a fashion studio that is having a show in a few hours. _Aphrodite's Devils_ are a group of lovely ladies that have come to model their sweet, sweet garb." Merry seemed to find this endlessly entertaining. "I'll bet they're in room 316, getting ready for the show."

"How do we get in?" Calex asked, dabbing some ketchup off his face. "I assume those blokes are only allowing models and studio members."

There were too many people in the streets to just knock them out. Someone might also call the cops if they had a confrontation.

Pax reached across Kally's chest to withdraw a golden apple from another inner pocket. She wondered how many inner pockets he had in this jacket and if Hunnie or Baller would pop out of one like a weasel in a can. "If we knew what the studio owner looked like, I could turn into them and get us a free pass in," he said. At the thought, he hopped from foot to foot, making it difficult to share the jacket.

"Hm, we could do that-if only we could look it up on a phone that none of us have," Merry said, cocking her head to one side to stare at Pax.

"Rest in Pieces Kally's phone…" Pax lamented. "Rest in Pieces."

Kally was considering leaving him out of the jacket to freeze to death.

Merry hummed softly. "This is a quest for Athena. We should have known it would take some brains and thought."

Pax abruptly stopped shifting from foot to foot. He shoved the apple back into his jacket pocket. His eyes focused on the bouncers in a calculating, scary manner. "I have an idea that's better than using our brains!" he said.

Merry shook her head. "That's inherently contradictory, but go on-"

"When I say the word 'elderberry,' head inside," Pax interrupted her. He ducked out of the jacket and began to fumble with his combat boots. "Kally, I need you to watch my stuff. Meet me on the fire escape closest to the entrance on the third floor."

He took off his belt and carefully folded it.

"What's the plan?" she asked, confused.

He gave her a devilish grin. "I don't plan."

Kally wasn't quite aware of the events that happened next until much later. She wasn't sure if it was because they happened too fast or because she was in partial denial.

But it all started when Pax dropped his pants.

Merry told Kally later that her jaw dropped and that she couldn't stop staring. Pax apparently piled his pants, shirt, belt and boxers into her hands before pinching her cheek with a quick, "Thanks Cyclopes." He then slipped his boots back on, took her empty hot dog container, and sprinted to the hotdog vendor to put a quick squirt of ketchup into his-now two-containers.

Merry also gave Kally details later on how attractive the acrobat's muscles were and that he had a tattoo of Mayan hieroglyphs winding down his hip; Kally knew it was dangerous to think about that too much; she'd have a stroke from embarrassment.

The hotdog vender didn't even flinch when Pax nodded pleasantly to him. The people he ran past made indignant shouts, though didn't seem remotely surprised that someone was streaking in the middle of November.

Once he was equipped with ketchup, Pax raced up to the bouncers, singing the chorus from Psy's _Daddy_. For about a week later, Kally wouldn't be able to get the lines, "How you like me now?" out of her head when she looked at Pax.

The bodyguards tensed and exchanged a glance when they noticed the naked Hispanic approaching. One stepped forward, but Pax was too fast.

In a movement so fluid and so quick that Kally probably couldn't have followed it without her demigod battle senses, she saw-or Merry told her she saw-Pax smash the ketchup into the guards' faces. Good to know their demigod senses were being used on useful things, like observing Pax's terrorism.

His hands then dropped to slip the wallets out of both guards' pockets. The one that had been stepping forward made a furious grab for Pax. Pax ducked and rolled to the side, towards the alley. When he sprang back to his feet, he waved the wallets in the air, shouted, "Your mothers smell of elderberries!" and sprinted down the alley.

The ketchup was enough to have the bodyguards running after him but the theft and insult proved fruitful too. Kally now had a sampling of threats for whenever she needed to impress Ares.

According to Merry, Kally would have stood there gaping until Calex laughed himself to death and his corpse started to smell.

"He is completely mad and it's brilliant!" Calex said between gasps of laughter.

Merry shoved Kally and Calex towards the doors. "I know he's giving a good performance, but he said the signal word so let's move out lovelies."

Without the guards around, they entered the sliding glass doors without resistance. The interior was beautiful. Kally couldn't remember much of it, as her brain wasn't working well then and probably wouldn't work properly for a few days, but everything had felt delicate once they stepped inside. There was gilding and abstract flowers, all kept to a tasteful minimum.

After a second set of thermal doors, they walked into an entry hallway with a receptionist desk. The woman looked young, uncertain, and probably wasn't the _Mrs. Bombast_ as was scrawled in fancy print on the desk's nameplate.

Merry took the lead and dragged Kally to be beside her. She whispered fiercely, "Quick improv. Kally: awkward assistant. Me: overbearing agent. Calex: beautiful model."

Calex managed to pull himself together enough to ask, "What?"

She wished she could second his confusion, but the word _improv_ scared her into focus. She hated when their drama coach made the techies join the actors in improvs. She always preferred hiding in the back to change the set or help with the light and sound booth. "But-"

"Calex, just be aloof and lovely. Kally, be an awkward pushover." Merry gave her the wink that said, _that shouldn't be hard_.

With that, Merry pulled her shoulders back, held her head high, and put a bounce in her step. Calex made an amused face, then flipped his thin scarf over his shoulder. He tried desperately to make his expression neutral and stare up, like none of them were important.

Kally clutched Pax's clothing tighter to her body. Her chin dropped and she pressed her lips-not because she was trying to act, but because Merry had pinned her exactly and she was too much of a pushover to contradict her.

Merry stopped at the desk. "Hello," she greeted shortly. "Arsenal Industries-Calex Rupin McKenzie. We have an appointment with the _Aphrodite's Devils_ in 316."

The woman looked surprised. "Hello," she greeted, furtively glancing down at a neatly kept schedule book. Beside the meticulous handwriting of who Kally assumed to be Mrs. Bombast, there were sticky notes in sloppier writing, likely this girl's. Kally felt horrible empathy for her. This girl would also likely play the awkward pushover in her group.

After a tense moment, the receptionist finally gave up. "Who?" she asked with a polite nervousness.

Merry's eyes widened. Kally feigned a half-hearted gasp.

"Calex Rup-" Merry cut herself off with an irritated huff. "The UK football model. He's been featured on _Stylist_ and _Look_ and-" Merry waved her hand, as though to brush off the other titles. "They're having him lead _Glade's_ _Sports Illustrated_ male edition. You didn't _lose_ our appointment did you?"

Kally was infinitely impressed that Calex continued to look aloof when Merry said the words _Sports Illustrated_ and _male edition._ She for one had to duck her head down further to avoid reacting.

"N-No," the receptionist stuttered. She reached for the scheduler with one hand and the phone with the other.

Before she could make whatever call to her supervisors that would lead in their eminent juvenile detention, Merry leaned forward, scowled, and sniffed. In a cold, scary voice, she demanded, "Are you _drunk_? You reek of alcohol!"

There was a pause.

In that moment, Kally remembered all the times Merry had diffused tension amongst fighting students, how much more fun Kally had at social outings when Merry was with her, and all the times she'd felt a little woozy, giddy, and light-headed around Merry. Kally thought she'd _never_ seen the daughter of Dionysus use her demigod powers. She'd been wondering what Merry's powers even were. In that moment, Kally realized that Merry might abuse her powers far more often than she realized.

The receptionist's eyes unfocused, then widened with alarm. She hiccuped.

Merry lifted her nose and glanced at Kally. "How do you think the agency is going to react to having a _drunk_ receptionist? Gods, we'll show ourselves in!" she huffed and flicked her wrist to motion them towards the elevators at the end of the hallway.

The receptionist covered up her mouth, seemingly unable to make a response. Kally and Calex rushed after Merry. As she passed, Kally gave her an apologetic, sheepish head nod.

Once the elevator doors shut and Merry pressed the button for the third floor, everyone relaxed into their more natural poses. Kally debated internally for a few seconds before she cracked. "You can _make_ people drunk?!" she demanded.

Merry sighed. She no longer had the uptight expression of an overbearing agent, but seemed tired. "Aren't we hammering out some serious chats today? ...I can simulate the feeling of euphoria one gets when they are in revelry," she explained, her voice lacking the usual musical bounce. "Some people associate that with alcohol. But plenty of drunks aren't happy..." Merry reflexively touched her cheek and Kally thought of all the times Merry had come to school with bruises. When teachers asked, Merry would always laugh it off and come up with some story that left the teacher and anyone else listening in tears with giggles. Kally's stomach clenched when she realized how much Merry had covered up and how desperately they needed to keep Nikhil away from her adoptive father.

Calex's fist balled; he must have put her comments from the car together with the way Merry grabbed her cheek. Although there was clearly no one around for him to pummel, Kally was a little nervous that the Son of Eros might hunt Merry's dad down and make him fall in love with a Goblin shark.

Merry swallowed and released a soft laugh, "And you can definitely reach a sense of joy without substances. So no, I can't make people drunk." Her voice regained some of its buoyancy. She flashed a smile. "But that hunbun looked a bit like a college intern and it looks like _she_ might associate it a bit with some sips."

Kally's mouth felt dry at the ding from the elevator. "We're not going to actually get that receptionist in troubl-"

"Of course not sweetie," Merry said. "I'm going to make sure she gets a free crate of adult grape juice and an apology note from a local theater group and thanks for being a good sport."

When the doors opened to reveal another delicately decorated hallway, Kally wasn't ready to step out. She took a deep breath, hoping it would grant her some courage. It felt wrong bringing this up now, but she didn't know when she'd be able to bring it up again. "Don't…" she squeaked out.

Merry and Calex glanced at her.

Calex shot his hand out to stop the doors from closing again. They bounced back open.

"Don't do that without our permission," Kally finished.

Merry raised an amused eyebrow. "Do I have your permission to apologize to the traumatized intern?"

The door bounced shut and open again on Calex's arm.

"No-I mean yes-to the apology- I mean-" Kally collected her thoughts. She didn't want Merry to brush this off. "Don't do that euphoria thing to your friends without permission."

Maybe now wasn't the time to bring it up, but Kally felt she needed to for Merry's sake and for all of Merry's friends. Kally already struggled to confront others when they made her mad or upset. If she felt the same excitement and happiness she got from biting into a chocolate chip cookie when she tried to tell Merry that the girl had done something wrong, she'd never be able to have a real conversation with her.

The elevator door bounced open and shut again.

Kally remembered when Pollux talked about his dead twin brother Castor. He seemed off when Merry was comforting him. And Pax, when he cried about how Castor had died-she never did get to ask why Pax had so many personal questions on the matter-Pax hadn't seemed himself either. "You've used that power on Pollux and-and on me," Kally stated.

What Merry did surprised Kally: she wrapped her in a huge hug. Kally had to tilt Pax's darts up so they wouldn't impale her. "I'm sorry sweetie…. I won't anymore," she whispered. Kally shifted Pax's clothing so she could wrap an arm around Merry. They held onto each other for a solid ten seconds, both trying not to break down into tears.

Calex awkwardly glanced down the hallway until Merry peaked over Kally's shoulder to say, "Oh, Calex, you big, awkward Brit, come here-"

All he managed was a, "Um-" before Merry had dragged him into a group embrace. Considering Kally's eyes were level with Calex's shoulders and Merry's chin, she felt like she was being crushed between two titan sculptures-one made out of rocks and one made out of squish. Kally knew Merry well enough to tell she was elated by their embarrassment.

"You didn't think I was going to let you get third-wheeled _all_ day, did you?" Merry teased Calex.

Calex cleared his throat in response. Kally assumed Calex would pat their backs once and then disengage. That's why she squeaked in terror when he dropped a hand to the small of her back-must have done the same to Merry-and lifted them a few inches off the ground. With a grunt, he shuffled the party out the closing elevator, door bouncing open one last time.

Merry giggled in delight as Calex set them back down in the hallway. "A more appropriate setting for a cornucopia of love, eh?" he asked.

"Mm, Calex, you're such a charmer," Merry said. She took a step back when he put them down and then ruffled Kally's hair. "Look at you. My girl getting all confident and standing up for herself. We'll have to get someone else to play the doormat soon."

Kally wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so she was contented to rub the almost tears out of her eyes instead of respond. She couldn't often get herself to stand up to Merry, or anyone, and she couldn't believe it had gone so easily. She thought Merry might fight her dramatically like girls did in movies or that she'd be upset.

One thing was for sure though: they needed that cryfest and sweets day that they'd promised each other a month ago.

"But until we get someone else to play the doormat…." Merry continued. Her smile went sinister. "Go out on the fire escape and see the handsome naked acrobat waiting for you."

Kally glanced down at Pax's clothing in horror. One of her hands shot to her mouth and she could feel her cheeks get hot. That seemed way scarier than searing Aphrodite's killer sheep.


	9. Calex: In which I Rob Pax

Nine: Calex

In which I Rob Pax

Pax waited until he heard someone climb out the third floor fire escape. He stood on the alley's ground, having knocked the guards out long ago. Not that he couldn't have been waiting on the ledge the whole time. but that wouldn't have been nearly dramatic enough. Besides, waiting naked in five degree C weather wasn't _that_ bad; he'd done dumber to impress a crush. [footnote 1]

Within seconds of luring the bodyguards into the alley, he had tripped them, pressure pointed them, then knocked them out with chokeholds. That was far less theatrical that knocking the guards' heads together, but Pax thought he might be courteous in his attack and avoid giving them concussions. He'd hid their bodies in the piles of trash along the walls, partially to keep them warm and partially to amuse himself by stacking banana peels artfully around their faces and drawing mustaches with miscellaneous, smushy stuff.

Meanwhile, he'd stolen one of their outer jackets, both their pairs of socks to keep his extremities and family jewels warm.

He was doing jumping jacks and sprinting back and forth to keep warm when he heard the fire exit rattle.

That was his cue.

Pax jumped up to clasp the side of a dumpster and scrambled atop. He hopped from there to a window ledge, then to clasp the bottom edge of the fire exit. This could have easily gone wrong: his hands were burning from the cold, the metal of the fire exit was freezing, and he didn't have gloves. Waiting for Kally to step down and lower the ladder for him would have been far too sensible and impressed her far less.

He raced up the next set of stairs. He paused half-way up the last set to jump for the outer railing of the fire exit's floor. Three stories up? Check. No safety net? Check. Minimal clothing? Check. Perfect formula for Pax stupidity.

He threw his weight to scale the railing on the third floor, refraining from making a "meep" when his hand slipped a little. Instead, he exhaled, collected himself, focused on balancing his core muscles and grabbed the top of the railing.

One partial flip annnnnddd-

Pax landed flawlessly. He turned around to see how impressed Kally was only to slam into what felt like a brick wall.

"Calex!" Pax shrieked, jumped backwards, and almost fell off the fire escape.

Calex stood in front of the window, arms crossed, trying to keep a straight face. Calex watched as the mad bloke sputtered about and-when Pax finally sorted himself out-the poor fellow tried to peek over either of Calex's shoulders, like he thought Calex might have been wearing Kally as a backpack.

"Where's Kally?" Pax asked.

The sight of alarm on Pax's face made every moment of torture with the prick worth it.

"She's inside," Calex said. "You think I'd leave her alone with a pervert like you?"

Pax pouted and folded his arms. Calex half-expected him to mimic what he'd said in a high pitch voice. "I'm not a-" Pax glanced down at his lack of attire, spotted the neat pile of clothes stacked at Calex's feet- "Oh! My pants!"-tossed the jacket and three socks off, and fumbled to get dressed.

Calex shook his head. He really didn't want to help Pax, but he hadn't had that good a laugh since he left Britain. He sighed, trying to sound annoyed instead of amused. "It disgusts me to say that you're well intentioned, but I know you genuinely fancy Kally. She's coming around for you-"

The little bloke almost lost his trousers again. "She-she told you that?" he asked with a dumb grin. Then Pax's eyes narrowed. "She told _you_ that?"

"No you dumb prick. I don't even think she's talked to Merry," Calex said. "I don't need my demigod powers to tell when two idiots like each other, but if you can't keep your todger in your trousers and act a gentleman, you'll frighten her off."

The same thing happened repeatedly to his mates back at home. They'd act like right pricks trying to impress a girl, then find out she was snogging one of the gentle, comforting types. If Calex had fifty quid to bet on it, he'd say that was going to happen here and Joey might pick up the pieces.

Calex shook his head again. "You are _unbelievably_ dodgy, I'm shocked you haven't frightened her off already. Who taught you how to talk to ladies? Or other humans?"

Pax puffed up his chest. "Good Gov'enor," he said, mimicking a "British" accent. "I am no human and even more godly than thee!" He dropped the accent and stared past Calex's shoulder. "And if you think _I'm_ bad, the person who taught me to flirt with boys and girls is _way_ creepier."

Calex was so caught up on thinking, _Good gods, please don't start flirting with me_ -since he could definitely see Pax doing that to annoy him-that his response was delayed. Once he gathered his thoughts, he pointed at the window." That's quite interesting. Now get inside. The sooner we get this over, the sooner we can find your brother."

Once inside, they found the girls still all soppy over each other in the hallway. The emotions were overwhelming. Merry and Kally were gushing over their epiphany. Kally was trying to balance this with acting all embarrassed about Pax. Calex was trying not to shake his head about how stupid and adorable it all was. But everyone sobered up right quick when they found room 316.

The door was the only one ajar in the hall. Music fluttered out, along with giggling, and the sound of hair dryers.

Pax snuck down the hall first, keeping to the wall, and tilted a handheld mirror from his pocket to peek into the room. Apparently, whatever he saw was so underwhelming that he stood up and in clear sight of the occupants. He motioned them forward.

Inside, there seemed to be a slumber party. The room was delicately decorated like the rest of the building, except with two walls coated in mirrors. There were makeup and hair booths and swivel chairs in front of them. Pink pillows and couches were scattered about the center of the room where a dozen fair haired, lovely people lounged. Just looking at them was intimidating.

They came from various ethnicities. It was like Calex's aunt on the godly side had kidnapped the most beautiful people from twelve random towns around the world and bleached their hair blond… That did sound like something she'd do. With how relaxed they were, Calex figured the show wasn't going to start for a few hours. They wore relaxed clothing saying things like, _Peitho's fav_ and _Love Hadylogos_.[footnote 2] All of their nails were painted a brilliant gold.

They were laughing docilely while sipping from champagne flutes. Satyrs rushed about the room, refilling their cups with-to Calex's surprise-sparkling water and pampering them. One satyr even attended a diva sitting at the mirror, fixing up the boy's hair. Potted flowers randomly poked out of the floor, making a neat obstacle course for the satyrs.

Calex didn't think he'd seen this many posh people in the same location since his mum made him take his little sister to a One Direction concert. Calex felt his heart fall. He wondered how Gretchen and his step dad were doing or if they knew Tiwa and Tom were dead.

While Calex froze up at the thought, the crowd of models completely ignore them.

"So… vicious sheep?" Pax asked Merry. "Shall I go in and shave one of their heads?" He danced from foot to foot. "Someone has to film this-it's going to be good."

"Hold it der sweetie," Merry said, watching the satyrs rush around in trepidation.

"I don't see any 'bones strewn around their green fields from past victims,'" Kally admitted.

At the word "victim," the satyr styling the boy's hair looked up. When he noticed them standing in the doorway, he frantically shook his head. With the shake, his hand slipped, and he accidentally poked the boy in the back with a hair straightener.

Three models flooded the satyr at once. They tore and hissed at him, the boy at the mirror getting the first strike. Fur, hooves, and blond hair flew everywhere. When they were done, there was nothing left but a pot full of daisies.

Kally, Pax, Calex, and Merry gasped and ducked out of the door.

They pressed against the hallway's wall: Kally and Pax on one side, Merry and Calex on the other.

"Oh…." Kally whispered. "I guess… I guess those were bones."

Pax grasped her hand. "It's okay Kally. He's blossomed on to a more flowery future."

Calex wanted to swat his head. Maybe he shouldn't have bothered talking to Pax, not if he was going to confuse gentlemanly behavior with being a prick.

"What are we going to do?" Calex asked.

"In the original trial," Merry said. "Psyche waited until nightfall and snuck the fluffmuffins' wool off thornbushes nearby."

"Well... we have daisies… and thirty minutes," Pax said cheerfully. "More like ten if you include the commute back, but I can't imagine Athena's wrath being _that_ bad."

Calex couldn't focus on that. He thought he'd seen something down the hallway, by the fire exit window. A nauseating flood of emotion hit him, worse than when he'd received the blessing of Eros upon entering camp.

Merry made him jump when she grabbed his arm. "Oh-oh-oh-I have a spicy idea! The hairbrushes: we can collect their hair off their hairbrushes. We just need a distraction…"

As they planned, Calex felt his eyes drift back down the hallway. Like he'd thought, there was something wrong with the light coming in from the window. There was a shadow cast on the ground with no form to cast it.

Calex gently removed Merry's hand and stood up. They kept chatting, seeming unable to see him walk away. Cautiously, Calex withdrew _Soul Pain_ 's pencil pouch from his pocket and assembled the bow. Something wasn't right here. They should have been reacting. There should have been a figure to cast the shadow.[footnote 3]

Like when he'd followed the Shonopa around, watching the god of disease and healing choose who lived and who died in his clinic, Calex stepped forward, entranced.

He could _feel_ the overwhelming existence of a being there-a god. This complex, scattered, and powerful emotion: it had to be. Calex tried to turn off his empathic powers. Just sensing the god made him lightheaded. Trying to comprehend the full emotional spectrum might kill him.

Although the shadow was distorted by the overhead lights in the hallway, something else was wrong with it. There were bulks beside the shoulders: wings.

Calex choked. Every night, he'd dreamed of his family dying and Death stalking him. He woke every morning with the shame and pain of abandoning Tiwa and Tom and the terror that Thanatos would-

 _-make you mine_. The words echoed in Calex's head, haunting him. He'd never be able to see his family again-living or dead-if Thanatos caught him and kept him _on the precipice of death_. There was no reason Death couldn't chase him from Liberia to the United States. If anything, the god should be more powerful here, in the Western cultural hub.

Calex prepared to run, but doubted it would do any good. Who knew if Zephry would be here this time.

As the shadow stepped forward, its castor revealed himself. Calex recoiled, but not because it was Thanatos.

This god's wings were white like they'd been fluffed out of primordial snow. Despite wearing a sports jacket and jeans, Calex could tell the god was muscular. A golden bow and quiver of golden arrows were strapped to his back. His hair was long, luscious, and dark. The god's features were ruggedly handsome, similar to how people described Calex, but more intense and intimidating. His eyes blazed a deep crimson, the same horrific shade Calex's had when he received his father's blessing. It was as though someone collected the blood from every jealous lover that had murdered their love and concentrated the fluids into a marble. [footnote 4]

"Dad?" Calex whispered, his voice cracking.

The god's expression was unreadable. "I was in the area for business," Eros said, gesturing at his bow. "My mother said an unkind word about my wife, so I had to make her fall in love with some mortal who would never love her back and then I had… other business to attend to…" Eros's unnerving gaze bore into Calex. "I haven't seen you since you were as small as those ghastly cherub depictions of me. When I made… when I made Tiwa fall in love with Winston."

Calex clenched his fist. The world felt fuzzy. _My dad… this is my dad._ He didn't remember ever not having a stepfather-Tiwa married Winston when he was still a toddler. But Tiwa rarely talked about his biological dad and he'd put quite a few lads on the pavement for making rumors about his mum. He'd been scared some of them might be true.

Although Calex didn't want to sense any of Eros's emotion, he could feel the pain at the words, " _made Tiwa fall in love with Winston._ " He wanted to ask, desperately, what happened and why he had to make Tiwa fall in love with a mortal instead, but Calex suspected he knew why.

"The cherubs… they do make you look rather charming," Calex said instead. Sixteen years of not knowing his father, not knowing it was the god of bloody desire, and he was comparing his godly dad to chubby babies.

A smile flickered across Eros's face, though his tone remained rigid. "I assure you; Techne and Apollo paid for their Renaissance mockery... Has _Pono Psychis_ served you well?"

Calex clutched his bow, a less elegant mimic of his father's. He cleared his throat. "You dropped it off?"

Eros shook his head. "Zephyr. I sent him to watch over you and provide you information on Camp Half-Blood. I wanted to make sure you were properly equipped to be a hero…" Those vibrant eyes examined Calex thoroughly and Calex realized-in horror-that Eros knew everything that any teenager did not want their parents knowing: about every girl Calex had ever fancied and everything Calex had done with the girls that fancied him back. Worse-his dad probably had something to do with it.

Calex was relieved when Eros continued, since he was too busy thinking about how profoundly mad that was. Some dads give sons socks for their birthdays. Others assure there are fit women about, willing for a snog.

"I don't have many children," Eros said in the same, even tone. "It takes a particular person for me to fall in love, one that can persevere through the hardships of me. My children make the other gods nervous. As a primordial god, even my half-mortal children are too powerful. That bow-" Eros nodded to _Soul P_ ain. "-will help you mediate your power. You can temporarily alter people's desires. As you saw, even alter a god's wants. The stronger the emotion you put into it or the more natural the desire, the more potent your arrow. The more you scatter the emotion or the less innate the feeling, the weaker the spell. Be wary, as you saw, raw love is a dangerous weapon."

Calex thought about the terrifying calm in Thanatos's eyes. He swallowed. He should have just nodded his head like a good little lad, but he stared at Eros's shadow. "You let Mum and Tom die… the same… the same as I did."

Eros's wings fluttered. Calex looked up. Sadness broke his father's face. "She made me promise to let her go when her time came. Love makes you say silly things... She's in the Elysian Fields with your brother. I had a firm talk with Hades about what type of fish he'd like to fall in love with if they didn't get EZ passes."

That should have made Calex feel better, but it didn't. The idea that his brother and mum-who he'd watched slowly dying of fever and hemorrhaging-were now classing it up in the Greek afterlife-it was too distant and surreal.

He'd promised himself he wouldn't cry anymore, but his shoulders shook. "I want them back. I've hated myself for running away. I've thought about it a lot-what if I'd stayed. What if I told that death bloke he could have me if he let them liv-"

"Don't tempt my counterpart," Eros's voice boomed. "I've quelled his want for you, but I never shot Thanatos for a reason. You dared do the unthinkable."

The reprimand was so casual-like Winston was scolding him for forgetting to put his rubbish in the wheely bin. It made Calex want to punch Eros in the face.

Eros stepped forward. Calex waited for his father to smack him out of existence. He didn't know why. but he figured godly dads do that occasionally when mad at their children for being sad.

When Eros hugged him instead, both with his arms and his wings. Calex struggled to choke back a sob.

"Love is one of the worst pains," Eros consoled. "Especially when love is lost. But you'll see them again Calex. I know you will."

He withdrew, respectfully ignoring how Calex rubbed something out of his eyes. "You're full of love and desires. Right now, it might feel like you're numb from pain and despair, but you're surrounded by loving friends. They will help you through your trials, of which there will be many. Now go practice with your bow." He nodded back to the room full of models. "I think you know what to do."

The command sounded childish, but Calex was relieved by the simple order. He wiped his face one last time and nodded. "Th-thanks dad," he said.

They took a step away from one another. Before Eros could turn invisible, Calex asked. "Wait-you said you were here on business? Er, other business?"

Eros's eyes twinkled mischievously. Those chubby, Renaissance baby cupids seemed rather appropriate with that expression. "Goodbye Calex. I will see you again."

And with that, his father disappeared. The shadow glided out the window.

Numbly, Calex watched Eros leave. Then he turned back towards Pax, Kally, and Merry. The three were still chatting, like nothing had happened. As Calex approached, Kally's eyes widened, glancing at where he'd been to where he was approaching.

"I know how we're going to distract Aphrodite's sheep," he said.

To his surprise, Pax quieted to listen to his plan. Merry gave him an amused grin, "Please tell me you're going to run through the room naked?" she asked.

There was a moment where he contemplated whether or not he could dignify that with an articulated response.

"Right," was all he managed before he stepped into the doorway. Calex drew his bow.

Last time, the amount of emotion he'd been feeling was genuine. This time, he focused a slightly different way. He thought about his fanboy obsession with Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson, about how excited he'd been to meet them and how choked up he was when they spoke. He intensified the feeling, forcing it to a specific item inside the room.

A brilliant light shimmered into existence on his bowstring as a bolt of emotion hummed there. Calex exhaled, imagining the arrow tip splitting into multiple arrows. His arm shook from the concentration.

When Calex fired, all the energy left his body through his fingertips. Before he passed out, he focused on one thought: _that is an awesome potted daisy_.

* * *

Footnotes!

1 Thank you, Random Dent, for pointing out I used Fahrenheit instead of Celsius here originally (as Calex _definitely_ should be using Celsius)! Sorry it took so long to fix, and sorry to the metric system users for making it sound like Pax was shaking in the middle of a desert day! For US readers, 5 Celsius is 41 Fahrenheit.

2 Goddess of Seduction and God of Sweet-talk. Imagine that being your day job. I hope the God of Sweet-talk also owns a telemarketing company.

3 Because Jack decided to forgo physics for dramatic effect.

4 Actually that's Phthonus… but Jack decided to forgo mythology for metaphors. Bad Jack.


	10. Kal: If Satyrs turn into Daisies, What

Ten: Kally

If Satyrs Turn into Daisies When They Die, What do Satyr-Daisies Turn into?

The models went beserk. Not that she hadn't just seen them go crazy before, but this was worse than a limited edition tablet on sale for 90% off on a Black Friday.

Kally had been trying to figure out when Calex had moved. At first, he was crouched beside Merry, then he appeared in the doorway with his bow drawn. Either Calex decided he was too good for standing up and walking or Kally just had a stroke.

After he fired, nailing all the models with some mirage of light, he collapsed backwards. Kally tried to catch him. _Tried_ being the operative word. This resulted in Pax scrambling to save her from also falling and potentially being crushed. Pax clearly had no intentions of helping when it was just Calex in trouble. When Kally braced against Calex's back, Pax barely managed to prevent all three of them from thwacking into the floor.

Meanwhile, all of the models swarmed the potted daisy by the beauty table. They clawed, bit, and slapped one another, each trying to gain ownership of the… plant? Calex's godly power was to make people fall in love with potted house ornaments or reincarnated satyrs? At this point, she'd seen weirder: after all, she knew Pax.

"That's a violent distraction. I'll watch over this hunk" Merry said, lifting Calex's head and resting him on her thighs. "You two run and grab their hairbrushes."

Before Kally could even ask why Merry was staying behind, Merry gave her a grin. "I hate running. Now go. We don't know how long the flower sale will be going on."

Pax shot her a devilish grin. "Last one to become fertilizer wins," he teased.

She didn't have time to think. Pax sprinted through the doorway. Kally dropped her messenger bag onto the ground and dashed after him. He grabbed her hand and dragged her into a crouch behind him. From the way Pax shuffled rapidly to direct them in a wide arch around the seething mass of models, she got the feeling he'd done this exact type of semi-sneak work before. She could imagine he and Chris creeping into the Big House to dip Chiron's tail in pink hair dye. That poor centaur must have a constant battle with the Hermes Cabin and security detection.

The fashionistias didn't notice their passing, though Kally did get hit with someone's broken, golden nail that flew off in the scuffle. Gross _and_ painful.

"That was dipped in gold!" one of the girls screamed.

Somehow, Kally couldn't relate to that problem.

Once Pax decided they'd gotten far enough away from the screeches and squeals of the models, he paused. Kally could _see_ him debate on whether or not he wanted to send her to the side closer to the swirling mosh pit of arms, teeth, and bleached hair.

She almost rolled her eyes and started to creep towards it. Yea, she was scared, but she was more afraid of Calex's spell wearing down during their indecision.

Pax shoved her towards the safer side, his grin now sheepish.

She didn't argue. Kally rushed over to the far beauty counter. There were four brushes immediately stacked on the surface. Cursing herself for not bringing her messenger bag, she picked up the end of her T-shirt so she could cradle the hairbrushes in it.

As she moved, she could hear the snarl and hiss of the sheep as they fought amongst each other. Kally had to wonder, if satyrs turned into flower pots at death, did demigods turn into talking swords or something? She didn't want to find out. In the mirror reflection, she could see Pax creeping down the other beauty counter, getting uncomfortably close to where one male model lifted the daisy planter and tried to run with it. Two other _Aphrodite Devils_ took him down.

Pax had shoved three combs into his utility belt and even raided-to Kally's disgust-one of the trashcans for snipped golden locks that he shoved into his pockets. There was one last comb, on the counter right beside the fight.

Shouting, "Stop!" would have defeated their semi-stealthy purpose, but it likely would have had a better outcome. Kally didn't know if they had enough hair, but getting that close to the planter seemed unnecessarily dangerous.

Pax dodge smoothly around one of the models by clambering up onto the beauty counter. One of the sheep noticed him but was distracted when another grabbed her by the hair and shouted, "You're not worthy of a piece of grass let alone that beautiful daisy!"

Pax reached a hang out to grab the last comb.

And one of the models-a girl who probably had beautiful features when her face wasn't snarled and didn't look like it just went through a blender-latched her nails into his shoulder. Pax choked on a strangled squeak.

Kally frantically grasped her empty hand for her Argonaut statue only to remember she'd left her messenger bag in the hall. She mentally sorted through all her training with Mr. Paine in the last month, but they hadn't covered _in event of rabid sheep_.

Pax headbutted the girl, but she didn't let him go. Instead, she recoiled, tugging his arm. His eyes widened with alarm as he lost his balance.

Pax fell into the fray.

His quiet whimper turned into a stream of curses in Spanish, Mayan, Greek, Kriol, and English.

Kally knew if she ran into the middle of the fight, no one would be left to see if demigods turned into ancient weapons when they died. Even if she could grab her discus, it only gave her one shot and there were at least a dozen shrieking… monsters? Could she call these monsters as this point? She had no idea how she'd done that supernova thing at Howe Cavern-Pax had somehow set it off.

As she debated, she saw a model get kicked backwards. Pax was shouting insults like, "his hair is prettier than yours!" and "I'll bet his teeth are shinier!" This somehow worked-to an extent. A model attacking him would suddenly turn on the other that Pax gestured towards, but at least two more nearby thought he wanted a piece of their deceased, flowery attendant.

Unable to come up with a better idea, Kally spotted another potted daisy tucked under the beauty counter. "I'm sorry," Kally whispered, feeling like this was a violation of some poor satyr's grave. She hefted it up with her free arm and threw the pot as hard as she could at the other side of the room. Being a daughter of Apollo, she had pretty good aim with projectiles.

The plant made contact with the vanity mirror. The glass shattered. All the models froze for a moment, glancing over at the shards and potting soil scattered about the floor.

Then they noticed the daisies crumpled in the pile of glass and dirt. About half of them flooded after those poor, pathetic flowers.

Kally could imagine having to talk to that satyr's children now. _"I'm sorry… it was for a godly cause."_

After a brief moment to thank the gods and Calex-she didn't know if what he did exclusively made one daisy appealing-Kally rushed to the remaining five models by Pax's daisy planter.

"Your nose will never be as perfect!" Pax shrieked. The model currently attacking him suddenly altered directions and crashed into another.

"Yes it will!" the diva shrieked, "My nose is the alpha! It is eternal in its beauty!"

Kally picked up a chair and smashed it against the back of the one that _still_ had her claws in his arm. That model released him, collapsing onto the ground.

As the last three tore at the shredded petals of the daisy, Pax scrambled to gather all the combs. They'd scattered after he was attacked.

Once done, Kally grabbed his arm and ran. The last three models destroyed the remnants of the first daisy as she half-dragged, half-lead him towards the exit.

She'd expected Merry to still be placidly sitting with Calex in her lap, but was relieved to find the girl waiting outside with a chair to bar the door. Once she and Pax stumbled through, Merry slammed the doors shut and put the chair into place.

Further down the hall, Kally could see where Merry had dragged Calex to the side of the elevator for a fast escape. He might have been coming to, but seemed completely unaware of his surroundings.

"Let's get out of this party before those sheepies realize you murdered that satyr's second life," Merry suggested.

Kally nodded, but frowned. "I didn't mean-"

"I'll have to talk to dad to see if he can do something about those… uh… daisies' lovely souls," Merry assured.

That made Kally feel a little better. She hoped Dionysus could do… something. Maybe make them into whatever the next higher level of satyr incarnation was.

A thud came from the door. The chair shuddered.

Pax snagged Kally's messenger bag and pushed Kally into a run. They sprinted down the hallway, reaching the elevator long before Merry did. Pax smashed his fist into the button. He glanced down at the semi-conscious Calex and groaned. "You know, it might be easier to leave him behind. He took a good one for the team-purple heart definitely awarded."

If Pax wasn't already injured, Kally might have hit him. Instead, she let go of Pax to grab one of Calex's arms. Pax grumbled as he grabbed the other.

When the elevator door dinged, the chair blocking room 316's entrance flopped off the door. The entryway bust open, several ravenous looking humans spilling out.

 _Zombies_ , Kally decided. _They remind me of love-struck zombies. And I just killed the last fresh brain in the area._

As they dragged Calex through the elevator doors, she felt her arms scream at the strain. This was way worse than when Mr. Paine had her drag his desk-with him on top of it-across the room. She'd thought it was impractical training. She'd have to apologize to Mr. Paine later.

Merry hopped in with them.

The elevator doors closed shut before the mob of _Aphrodite's Devils_ had made it halfway down the hallway. Kally sighed in relief, leaning against the wall. While gasping for breath, she felt Pax curl up against her side. She blushed, and tried to ignore him. Although he was now fully dressed, Pax shook. She'd have to take care of his injuries in the van.

"How did you carry Calex all the way over here without hurting yourself?" Kally asked Merry. The daughter of Dionysus was bent over, also gasping for breath. "You don't usually do…" Kally tried to think of a way to be polite. Maybe Merry would be crass in this situation, but Kally didn't want to be a jerk after their heart to heart earlier. "...athletic things."

Merry waved her off, holding a hand to her lower back as she stood straight. "Oh, I hurt. That boy owes me back massages for at least two weeks. The sweetheart just doesn't know it yet."

Kally chuckled softly. Although she had almost witnessed her not-boyfriend be torn apart by fashionistas, she figured Merry could have had a worse first quest.

* * *

When they dragged Calex past the poor receptionist, Merry made some distressed comment about, "the most ill-behaved brats ever! My word-you'll be hearing from _Arsenal Industries_ about this!"

Fortunately, they got out fast enough that the woman didn't have time or wherewithal to call the police-or the police didn't show up fast enough to stop them-and fast enough that the security guards hadn't alerted the receptionist to the break in. Kally hoped Pax had knocked them out and not actually hurt them. None of them knew if those guards were mortal or not and Kally figured Pax might not take that into consideration.

Once they got to Lucius and the van, they found a ticket pinned under the windshield wiper. Apparently this was a no-carriage parking zone.

Pax didn't care. He muttered something about, "having to change the license plates again," and directed everyone inside. With a lot of effort, swearing, and prayers to the god of strength, they managed to prop Calex in the passenger seat.

Merry immediately hopped in the driver's seat and motioned Pax and Kally into the back. Kally figured Pax must be exhausted, because he let Merry take his seat with the simple stipulation that she never touch the steering wheel. Since Kally had to take care of his shoulder, she knew they'd probably be banished to the back, but the dumb, knowing grin on Merry's face made Kally want to forcibly switch places with the girl.

Once the coordinates were set up for Lucius, Kally remembered she couldn't do much healing with the suspension Matt had supplied for the van. To do list for when she got home: curse Mattias Sverre Hanson. Though, maybe he meant "suspension" like the type you'd find in a book: you never knew when you'd hit the next bump and be thrown across the van.

After the first time Luke took a sharp turn, Hunnie and Baller tumbled through the wall of Pax's hidden trunk. They appeared disgruntled instead of fierce. They must have been sleeping during their guard duty shift.

Kally had been trying to balance on the bench beside Pax, but almost crashed onto the floor. He grabbed the bar of the wall's weapon's rack with one hand and caught her arm with the other. He tugged her back onto the bench and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Thanks for saving me back there Cyclops. I'd say my performance was a little sheepish, but you really rammed it out of the ballpark," he said.

If she didn't find his arm so comforting in lieu of a seat belt, she'd hit him.

He looked exhausted. There were darkened holes in his duster jacket, where the female model had clawed his shoulder. More cuts ran across his left cheek, though Kally could have sworn the cuts were worse only seconds ago. Overall, Kally had to wonder how he'd gotten so _few_ injuries.

As careful as she could be with the rocking of the van, she touched his face.

"It hurrrrtttts," he whined, pouting. "Will you kiss it and make it better?"

Kally's hand shook. She could feel Hunnie and Baller rush past her feet and dart into her messenger bag. She was so distracted, she didn't care that they were probably raiding their stash of treats. "Pax…" she asked slowly. "Have you gotten… cut around us before?"

"It takes a lot to make me…" Pax's cute pout fell away. He must have realized what she saw.

The blood on his face glistened a burnt gold. The color was unlike anything she'd seen. When they were inside, she assumed it was because of the lighting. Now that Kally was close, examining his face, the coagulating liquid was a deep crimson, but glistened brilliantly each time it caught the light, like a five year old had decided Pax wasn't flashy enough and dumped glitter into his arteries.

Her throat felt dry. "What… Why..?"

Pax moved around, reorienting so he could slip one of his legs between Kally and the van's wall. Kally assumed he'd straighten it for a stretch, but he wrapped his legs around her waist instead. Kally squeaked, but, knowing Pax, this was build up for some false story or another. Now that his legs had her anchored, he removed his arm from her waist to press a finger against her lips.

With that dangerous glint to his yellow eye, Pax mouthed the word, _secret._

He nodded his head toward Calex and Merry. Both appeared to be sleeping, though Kally was sure Merry was feigning it as to not interrupt what looked like a romantic tryst.

Pax leaned forward, his hair tickling her jaw. She decided she'd hit him if he tried to kiss her, but he brushed past her lips and pressed his mouth to her ear. A small puff of air fluttered against her neck, and she knew he'd done his nervous tick-puffing up his cheeks and popping them. _Thanks for doing that in my ear jerk_ , she wanted to say, but only managed to push her hand into Pax's chest.

"I'm a vampire," he said.

For a split second, she considered where he was in proximity with her neck. Then Pax added in a near-laugh, "Rawr."

Kally jabbed his rib with one of her fingers.

" _Ay_! I'm sorry-" he whisper-laughed, "you set it up too well-come on now-everyone knows a vampire's skin glistens, not their blood-Kally-"1

"Ajax." She didn't know why she used his first name. Not many people called him by it, but the effect was instantaneous: the laughing stopped. "This is why I can't trust you," she grumbled.

Pax squirmed, like she was the one holding him to the bench. "Axel doesn't like it when I tell people about it… and I don't… I don't want you treating me differently."

He'd said that before, when Pax told her about his dad beating his uncle to death in front of him and his siblings. After all the lies she'd heard him say, she'd wanted to reaffirm that story with Axel, but didn't know how to bring itup. _"Hey… so your little brother said your dad killed your uncle… how'd that go?_ " sounded a little disrespectful.

Maybe she should be putting Pax more at ease when discussing his past. Kally thought about telling a stranger that she was the offspring of an affair or an attack and realized how much encouragement she'd needed. Gently, she tilted her head towards Pax's ear. "I'll still treat you like the annoying and deceptive snake you are," she promised.

Pax laced his fingers with her hand on his chest. "There's my Cyclops."

They sat in silence long enough to make Kally's cheeks feel hot. At least Pax had a strong enough grip on her that they weren't sliding with each of Luke's lane shifts, but she was painfully aware that he had a strong grip on her and that her mind picked _now_ to hyperventilate over his prior bare essential promenade.

"My _chiich_ used to tell us why the Mayan civilization crumbled," Pax suddenly whispered into her ear. She had to refrain from jumping. "She said the last rulers became bold and called themselves gods, the cities fell apart, and the common people fled into the jungle… Kally… they _could_ become godly."

Pax withdrew enough to look her in the eyes, but she could tell he didn't really see her. He was too lost in thought.

"When dad dragged us back to the house, he said our family was special. That _we_ , especially Axel and I, were special. We always knew Axel was, but me? Who doesn't want their dad to say they're special?" He laughed, but the sound was choked.

Kally never considered that Pax and Axel had to _go back_ with their father. She tried to think of what that would be like and decided she didn't want to. "How… how did the rulers become godly?" she asked instead. That idea frightened her. Her priest would call it blasphemy and demonic-though that summed up his thoughts on most things, especially involving Pagan gods.

Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. "Dad wants to do it a more Greek way-obsessed with the West and all, but some thought you had to expand your empire and... others thought you had to capture opposing gods and eat their-"2

Pax suddenly clenched. He twisted his head to glance at the bin attached to the back of the driver seat. Although Kally hadn't noticed amidst the other junk, there was a golden net tied in with the extra bow strings wrapped around the container.

"Do you think the God of Nightmares would give false warnings to scare me?" he asked.

 _Do I think the night time fear-mongering god would try to scare someone?_ "Uh, yes," she said. That felt like she was affirming, _Yes, homework is less fun than Fast Passes to DisneyLand_ , so added, "What did he say?"

"That conscelpsy is a serious dise-"

She shoved him.

His attempt at playfulness died. Pax frowned as he leaned forward to press his mouth back against her ear. "Kally," he whispered. "My mom will never be satisfied by some small acknowledgement from the Olympians to keep their peace. She _wants_ my dad to attain godhood. And Axel and I have been doing some very bad things under her orders..."

* * *

1 At least three readers put this book down with a, "Hecate damn it-not another vampire romance!" Another three put this book down and said, "Damn it! This could have been another vampire romance!" To all of you, Pax and I say, "Thank you for being invested enough in this book to be mad at falling for our joke" and please don't stop reading because of it .

2 Different Mayan groups have different stories. This might be particular to the Mayans of Belize. (Jack is behind on his research and needs to do more on general modern Mayan studies -.-)

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	11. Euna: A Chance of Raining Demigods

Eleven: Euna

Fifty Percent Chance of Sunlight with a Ten Percent Chance of Afternoon Demigod Showers

As they were falling from several hundred feet above Camp Half-Blood, Euna didn't just have the wind screaming in her ears. She also had her little sister.

"AXEL PAX I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Joey shrieked.1

After Axel pushed them off the kitchen patio, he grabbed their arms, so they were at least falling in terror together. He tilted his body subtly, pulling them closer; Euna had the distinct feeling he was directing their descent. Maybe he preferred they splat on the water instead of the land-she hadn't really had enough conversations with Axel to bring up, _hey-hypothetically speaking-if you're falling from a sky castle, on what kind of surface do you want your brain to explode?_

Some part of her mind was thinking about how sad it would be to have a make-up argument with her sister after two years of passive aggressive fighting only to be squashed into oblivion. The main part of her mind was thinking about how nice a Wonder Woman or a Jason Grace would be at that moment.

Then they hit a viscous mass of clouds.

"Make a net!" Axel shouted.

He said it right as their descent slowed. It was like they'd hit semi-gooey marshmallows.

Euna didn't understand how a net would further slow their descent and couldn't really fathom the construction of one at that moment, so was glad when Joey reached into Euna's pocket to withdraw her emergency seeds. Within seconds, Joey-with Euna's delayed help-had crafted a mesh net of instant-grown grass and roots.

The marshmallowy surface under them made disgruntled, alarmed calls as they expanded the net above it. At the time, Euna didn't really understand how water vapors could be caught by a net or complain, but she was content to assume all clouds spoke and held meetings to vote on whose day they would ruin with a torrential downpour.

Whatever they were gliding on slowed their descent so much that-when they got close to the beach-Euna's brain decided it was okay for her to register how close to death they'd been. It wasn't until their water vapory ride bumped into solid ground and she numbly slid off the gooey substance that she felt a postponed panic.

The beach's sand felt like it was moshpitting as she stood, but she suspected that was her body's reaction to falling several hundred feet. Joey and Axel hopped off the roots and vines beside her. Axel immediately went to pull their net off the clouds. The longer Euna squinted her eyes, the more the vapor solidified to look like three beautiful ghostly women, collapsed on the ground, and shouting.

"You heroes and your-"

"If you hadn't helped Hemera-"

"Should have let you-"

Once Axel was done removing the net from over the three semitransparent ladies, he knelt beside one with black hair that snapped around like lightning. He offered her a hand while saying, "I'm sorry-if I thought there was any other way to escape Aphrodite, I wouldn't have done that. That's not an excuse for a hero to act that way-"

As he spoke, he helped up the first one, then moved to the second. He looked genuinely apologetic and Euna reflexively reached to help up the last with honeyed hair. Touching the woman's hand felt more like waving her fingers past a tube of dry ice. A chill ran up her arm.

They looked similar and reminded Euna vaguely of Juniper and Olive. They were pretty, with elfish features and fluttery pale dresses. _Nymphs_ , she realized. Though she didn't really see the point of apologizing. It seemed perfectly reasonable to avoid making a crater on the beach. Especially since the gods might be mad about you ruining the aesthetic of the beach and punish you in the afterlife as well.

The one with honey hair tilted her head to the side. As she did so, her locks fluttered and flowed about, as though she were underwater. "Heroes don't usually apologize to us before we're done yelling at them," she said, frowning. She took a step closer to Euna, as though suspicious of her species.

Joey couldn't seem to stop staring blankly at their crumpled up net. It was weird—she actually looked scared. Normally, she looked so calm or haughty.

The one with dark hair tilted her chin up, like she wanted to stare down at Axel. Due to the nymph's height, Euna didn't think she could, but the cloud spirit lifted to hover a foot off the ground. Her hair twitched more violently with sparks. "I still think we should-"

Ms. Stormy Weather paused and cocked her head to one side, like she was listening to an ear piece. "Hm?" she said to the invisible earpiece, "Yea… _safe_ landing." Her gaze narrowed on Euna, Joey, and Axel like they were the heaviest textbook for the most boring class. "Yea, already done. Reward..?" Skeptically, her gaze slipped to the net on the ground. "Why would you think I would give them the poisonous one?"

Ms. Stormy glared at the smallest of the cloud nymphs, who turned more transparent. Euna had to wonder what poisonous thing the smallest cloud spirit had handed out on Hemera's behalf and if Ms. Stormy had gotten in trouble for whomever had been accidentally poisoned. Did that happen often? Should they not accept a reward?

The fair haired one shook her head sympathetically. "One day Hemera will be organized enough to tell us a chore _before_ it happens. First it was raining frogs in 200 BC; now demigods."

Ms. Stormy righted her head and snorted. She appeared to be off the ear piece since she snapped, "It'll only take another four thousand years for Hemera to buy an planner." She felt around in the wisps of misty material hanging off her dress. Euna had to assume they were pockets. After a moment of searching, she withdrew a vial of contact solution and handed it to Euna.

Euna blinked. The bottle had the picture of a sun and the words, _not a gentle formula. Not for daily use._

"They're drops of Hemera's sunlight," Ms. Stormy explained.

The smallest piped up in excitement, "Kinda like an energy boost-!"

She quieted when Ms. Stormy scowled at her. Once the tiny one cowered, she continued, "You drop them anywhere on your skin and it will temporarily shift your half-blood powers to god level. There should be a drop in there for each of you." She hovered an extra few inches into the air, motioning for her companions to follow. "Now don't drop in on people unannounced anymore, alright? Unless you want bad weather days for the next year," she snapped.

That threat made Joey focus. She touched her hair defensively. Axel nodded and apologized again. The smallest of the cloud spirits giggled and floated up with the other. The last with honey hair gave a curtsey before following after. The three drifted back into the sky. Within seconds, Euna had difficulty deciphering them from the actual clouds.

"Now that that is taken care of…" Joey muttered. She pivoted to face Axel, shoving a finger in his face. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Wha-" Axel tensed.

"You pushed us off a _cliff_ onto MOVING TARGETS that could have RUN AWAY," Joey snapped.

Out of reflex, Euna went to grab her sister. "Joey, stop being a br-wait…" Euna narrowed her gaze on Axel's sheepish expression. "You did push us off a cliff." Although it was weird to think Joey's whining might be justified, that definitely hit Euna's rare categorization of _things worth getting upset about: near death._

"I'm sorry. It was the only way-" he said.

"No!" Joey shouted. "Aphrodite is only mad at you. Euna and I would have been _fine_. How dare you endanger us after-" Joey attempted to smack him.

Axel sidestepped, grabbed Joey's wrist, and twisted her arm downward into an arm bar. She yelped and kicked at him, but he pushed her further into the hold. Or would have, if Euna hadn't sucker-punched him in the ribs.

Out of the three of them, Euna was the most surprised. After their soppy argument in the sky castle, she was feeling particularly sororal, but didn't realize it was _punch-team-captain-in-the-rib_ sororal. She didn't really feel like fighting Axel, but… well, he did push them off a cliff. Maybe punching him again would feel pretty good.

Axel recovered flawlessly, released her sister, and tried to snag Euna's hand. Although her strike must have winded him, she barely heard a gasp. Euna twisted her hand out of his grip and blocked his next open palm strike, watching his hand come within inches of her face before diverting off to the side.

They paused as Joey righted herself. Euna expected him be enraged, but he looked delighted, his eyes twinkling with childish glee. "You're quick!" Axel complemented with a grin. His posture relaxed and he touched where she'd hit his ribs. "We're going to spar-the three of us. Your technique is beautiful but you don't have enough practical applicat-"

"Oh my gods," Joey said. She had her hands behind her back and Euna knew Joey didn't want to admit Axel had hurt her wrist. "You're so weird! You're as weird as your brother."

Despite her sister's tone of voice, Euna recognized Joey's determined expression. Axel was a phenomenal fighter. Joey often sounded like that when she wanted to learn from someone to surpass them.

Joey's eyes drifted from Axel to his feet and widened. She snatched up something on the ground: the contact solution container. Euna must have dropped it when she hit Axel. She sighed and waited for her sister to yell at her for being lazy and irresponsible.

Joey's mouth opened like she was ready to release Tartarus, but she paused, pressed her lips together, and shoved the container into Euna's pocket. "Be careful with that," she said. "I don't want you losing it right when we need it."

Considering Euna had already dropped it once, she found Joey's choice of carrier weird. Besides, Euna would probably forget she had them until after a huge fight. _Too bad we didn't have god-mode powers BEFORE we were in the Underworld_ This may have been some way for Joey to apologize for being a brat for the last two years, but it was a style of apology Euna didn't really want.

Although she was still miffed about the push-off-the-cliff thing, Euna glanced at Axel and withdrew the drops. "Maybe you should-"

Axel took a step back, like she was offering him a fighting troll that smelled of athlete's foot. "I probably can't use those. You keep them Euna. You earned them on the quest," he reminded. As soon as she'd stuck the container back in her pocket, Joey pointed her finger back at Axel.

"But seriously—no more pushing us off cliffs. I mean—augh! What _man_ runs away from the _Goddess of LOVE and DESIRE._ What woman for that matter? Aphrodite could have probably asked Euna to clean the grit off her stilettos for all eternity and she'd be happy!"

Euna wanted to disagree, but Joey was probably right. Aphrodite had been quite charming both times they'd met her and her stilettos were very pretty.

"It's—um—complicated…" Axel murmured. "I'll try not to push you off any other cliffs though—" His excitement returned. "But we definitely need to train. Ajax and I hardly get to train with anyone but each other and-"

He froze, puffed up his cheeks, and popped them. Axel pivoted to search around the beach. "Where's Ajax?" he asked, patting down his pockets like his little brother had miniaturized purely to antagonize them.

Once he mentioned it, Euna realized none of their group was there. "Maybe he's at lunch?" Euna suggested hopefully.

Axel shook his head, searching around the sand for—Euna assumed—footprints. "No—no, he wouldn't have left without me. Not unless there was a good reason—I hope he wasn't taken…."

"By who? Wait—no." Joey nodded. "He's pretty annoying. A lot of people at camp already want him dead."

Axel waved her off.

Euna discovered Axel could put more energy into freaking out over the next hour than she had put into living life for the last 16 years. As they followed Axel off the beach, listening to him grumble something about killing the Stoll brothers, Euna's fingers touched the solution in her pocket. She had to wonder what kind of monsters they were going to fight that would require her to have god-powers.

* * *

1 This chapter originally opened with Axel's point of view with this line: "Either be the Goddess of Love's plaything or jump off the side of a cliff and try to surf a wind spirit to safety. Axel picked the thing any sane, single, heterosexual man wouldn't do: he jumped."


	12. Axel: Are meetings useful?

Twelve: Axel

Are Group Meetings Useful? From the Person who likes to be Mysterious: No.

* * *

Axel panicked when the Paxmobile was gone.

There was no reason for Pax to leave the camp, especially if Axel disappeared. Not unless Pax decided he wanted to go to Mt. Olympus and get himself killed in the sole pursuit of spitting at Zeus…. Which Pax would do.

So either Pax was off teepeeing godly shrines or he was taken from camp by force.

Axel rushed to the lunch pavilion, where he found the Stoll brothers bent over a piece of paper. Joey and Euna followed closely; Joey was alarmed by his outburst about the van's absence. They didn't understand. Even if Pax was somewhere around the camp, that van had the relics of their past and the building blocks for their future. Without it, Axel didn't have the pieces he needed to protect Pax from his parents.

When Axel got close, Travis pulled the paper into his chest so Axel couldn't see it. "Connor-the killjoy is here to kill the joy," he warned.

Axel withheld a growl. More likely than not, the picture was of Mr. D cross-dressed and frolicking with nymphs. As much as Axel thought the gods deserved mockery, he'd discouraged Pax's idea that the Hermes Cabin distribute fliers about Mr. D's childhood affinity for cross-dressing. It fell into the _unnecessarily stupid_ category like telling Hades that his helm looked stupid.[footnote: 1]

Although Pax had been coaching Chris on not cowering every time Axel was nearby, the larger Hispanic boy told the other Hermes children to go back to playing with their food instead of watching the counselors and he chat.

"Have you seen Ajax?" Axel demanded.

Connor leaned to look Axel over. "Oh-I suppose you aren't conjoined at the hip. Well, we haven't _seen_ him, but Merry said he went ahead to the Paxmobile. Grace walked her, Calex, and Kally out there-said they forgot something."

"Jason Grace…" Axel sighed. Had the camp really fallen for this twice? "You're sure it was _actually_ Jason Grace?"

Connor shrugged. "He did wink at us a lot. I figured he had something wrong with his eye."

 _He left willingly_ , Axel assured himself. Had people from his dad's company managed to find this place and somehow enter, the campers would have been talking louder about that than Aphrodite about her pedicures. And they wouldn't have seen Ajax Pax step out as Jason Grace to avoid questioning from Chiron.

"I'm sure they're okay," Euna said from behind.

Axel unclenched his fist. He hadn't realized he was doing it until Euna spoke. When he turned to face them, he found her eyeing the food on the table. Joey had her arms crossed, in mid-eye roll. Although it hadn't been long enough to tell, the two seemed different. Though her eyes were still critical and harsh, Joey had relaxed.

Euna looked like she was about to pick up the dining table and dump the continents into her mouth, Charybdis-style.

"Have you accepted we aren't going to find him yet?" Joey asked. "Because I want to tell Miranda I'm now two quests ahead of her and her days as counselor are numbered."

Axel examined Joey. There was a playful spark to her gaze, one Axel would have immediately noted for advancement if she'd been part of Kronos's army.

Her sentiment was correct though. There wasn't much he _could_ do to look for Pax: ask Rachel to search for Pax… under the threat of her seeing through Axel's Mist again and her seer powers failing? If she was even here? Iris message his family to say, _hey, did you successfully kidnap Ajax? Cool, just needed to know where I was going on a killing spree_. He couldn't even rent a taxi if he had a lead; all his money was in the van. He would have to steal a pegasus instead and they were usually too skittish around him to fly or would try to buck him off. And he did _not_ want to piss off Ms. Stormy Weather with another emergency skydiving session.

Axel hated the idea of waiting. There was always a plan or an end goal.

This must be how Pax felt every time Axel said that he was going alone to get their dad. Everything would leave with Axel: their mobile home as of the last four or so years, their trunk full of memories-enough evidence that not even Sisyphus could argue his way out of New Rome's courts-and the _Silver Tongue Snake_ helm. That meant Hunnie and Baller would leave too. Although they'd never tested it, Hecate had implied the Mist form weasels were bound to the helmets. Axel could imagine the scene now: he'd somehow find a way to sneak out without the Hermes children or Pax hearing him, only to get into a high-speed equestrian collision because weasels attacked his face.

Axel had to wonder what Pax would do without him. Pax was clever and well-intentioned but very gullible. If Axel never came back, Pax would go straight to his mother to bargain for Axel's return.

While Axel frowned at the thought, Euna crept off to grab some food. After years of watching Pax sneak, the better word for Euna might have been blundered.

He stood there, debating. Olive, the nymph, eventually made him sit down. She snapped, "First you tackle my cousins in the sky, then you pout in the middle of the pavilion so we run into you-and now you won't accept our hospitality-go sit down with Jason Grace so you can plan a Capture the Flag battle strategy to make up for it!" Axel suspected Joey said something to her. Regardless of the intention, Olive's guilt tripping worked.

Axel played along, halfheartedly.

About thirty minutes later, when lunch was closing, Pax, Merry, and Kally mosied into the pavilion, half-dragging Calex along. Piper rushed over to make sure Calex was okay-which was fortunate since Pax dropped the larger boy as soon as he spotted Axel. Leaving Merry and Kally to fall over, Pax sprinted gleefully towards his brother.

From the joy and relief in his expression, Axel could tell Pax had the same worries. Pax rushed towards him, shouting, "Axel!"

Axel sighed and let a smile creep onto his face. He caught his brother, ruffled his hair, then—right when Pax was least expecting it—pinched his ear _hard._ "Where on Gaea have you been?!"

Chiron seemed surprised at the entrance of so many campers so late to lunch. While Axel assumed that was more the counselor's' responsibility to keep track of the kids, he had to wonder if that centaur noticed anything. Other than a checklist of "mysterious things I can't explain to the campers" today. [footnote: 2]

When he saw Chiron examining him warily, he frowned again. Maybe the centaur noticed too much.

* * *

They rendezvoused during free time, after monster fighting practice. All seven of them gathered inside Merry's cabin. Merry shooed Pollux out, giving him very explicit instructions to get the satyrs to choreograph a dance to a song called _You Sexy Thing_ in honor of their dad.

Cabin Twelve was beautiful. There was a fountain that gurgled purple liquid (supposedly grape juice) in the center, mosaics of circling dolphins on the floor and frescos of grapes intermixed with real vines along the walls. Three animal furs decorated each wall except the door's, though Axel took most note of the leopard pelt. He'd heard rumors the head of the animal was in Dionysus's office.

Unlike the overflow of Cabin Eleven, there were only two beds. While Pax immediately went to jump on Merry's-identifiable by the banner she'd draped between the fancy bedposts-Axel had to pause. How rare to see a god so loyal to his wife. Either that or so irresponsible with claiming… Likely irresponsible with claiming.

Evidence of Merry's presence decorated the room: a disco ball was tethered to grapevines above the fountain. Hidden in the corners of the room were speakers that continuously played old school hip hop and jazz. There were also sticky notes all over Pollux's headboard in Merry's handwriting. Upon closer examination, he realized-in horror-it was Merry's theories about the relationships at Camp Half-Blood. There was an entire section dedicated to their group of seven. She had a huge heart around a note that said _Pally_. A distinctly feminine, different scrawl had the words _Kalabastax_ underneath with tiny hearts. Another had his name with arrows and questions marks to Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase and Olive the nymph.

Axel recoiled.

"Me thinks there might have been a mutiny in this cabin," Pax said, seeming impressed by how much control Merry had over her counselor.

"No," Merry hummed cheerfully. "Pollux just knows it's better to listen to me than not. We share a bathroom after all. There are lots of shameful things that could get leaked onto the web. Now!" Merry clapped her hands. "Let's get this party started. I gotta make some swanky phone calls to some lovelies for my mother so let's make this quick!"

Once Pax had settled down, he gave her a dark grin at the internet comment. Kally was right: they _shouldn't_ let Merry and Pax hang out or connive.

Merry pulled two chairs and a small bench over from the fountain, arranging everything by her bed. She put Axel and Joey into the separate chairs, Euna and Calex onto the bench-which clearly made Euna uncomfortable as Calex was barely capable of sitting upright-and dragged Kally to sit on her bed beside Pax.

He hadn't noticed until then, but Kally had been quiet. Well, quieter, which was a scary thought. She looked paler than usual and wouldn't make direct eye contact with him. Axel wondered what had happened. As soon as she sat down, Pax slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her close. Axel made a mental note to scold Pax for whatever it was later.

"What's with the frying pan?" Kally murmured at Axel.

Axel sighed. Matt would kill him for ruining so many weapons so fast.

They exchanged stories, Axel and Joey-Euna was too distracted with Calex-about Hemera and Merry about Aphrodite's "sheepies."

Kally perked up when Merry mentioned giving Athena the "wool" from the combs. "You recognized Athena on sight," Kally noted. "And she was really friendly to you when we gave her the wool."

Merry waved her hand. "She's the goddess I pray to most often. I burn all my A tests to her. It both grants me catharsis and a proper offering to the goddess of wisdom."

Pax laughed. "Look at how special we are. We have a near-sighted child of Apollo and a studious kid of Mr. C."

"D," Joey reflexively corrected, giving Pax a look.

Merry nodded her thanks to Joey. "Just because I like to study doesn't mean I don't know how to party. It just means I know when to do which. Speaking of which-" She clapped her hands again. Axel had never seen Merry in a hurry for something, but it was like she was about to have a private phone interview with one of Aphrodite's Devils.

"Everything that's happened has confirmed my suspicion that we started our quest: Trial One with a little breakfast sorting-" She gestured vaguely at Joey and Euna. Joey had curled her sneakers onto the chair while Euna awkwardly pat Calex's back. "-and Trial Two with a little streak through New York."

Although Axel was never nearly as versed in myths as Alabaster, he was pretty sure there wasn't anything about streaking in any prophecy, past or current.

Then it registered exactly _who_ would have been streaking in the group.

He sighed and tried to look stern—difficult when he wanted to laugh. " _Why,_ " he growled at Pax, "were you running naked through New York?"

Kally went red in the face and Pax grinned impishly. Calex shook his head. "I took care of it mate." he grumbled.

"Besides-" Merry continued like Pax wasn't about to get the rubble from Mount Othrys dropped on his head. "We've got ourselves a fancy prophecy. Sounds like we're doing the Trials of Psyche. Maybe not because we want to impress Aphrodite so we can marry Calex's hunky father-"

Calex grunted.

"-like Psyche in the original myth, but we are doing them. Next is collecting a refreshing beverage from the entrance to the River Styx—"

"Since the six of us know exactly how comforting a dip in that water is," Pax piped.

"-All that does a nice job explaining the fourth stanza of the prophecy; _Trials of Psyche lead by love._ The first stanza is pretty obvious: _Seven without a satyr._ There are clearly seven wonderful people here," Merry motioned around the group. "And-although four of us came in with a satyr, we don't have a satyr with us on our quests."

Calex drearily nodded. "Percy had Grover for most of his quests and the Seven Heroes had Coach Hedge."

Merry bobbed her head. "Yes sir-ee but that second verse is still a-baffling me: _By Vice and sin, called traitor_."

Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. A second pop echoed right after. Pax had done the same thing. Ways to look guilty: do your nervous tell at the exact same time as your brother. Now, give an awkward pause to show how much this alarmed both of you.

The fact that Merry had memorized their prophecy surprised Axel. He'd been so concerned with family matters, he hadn't even thought about the lines or what they might reveal about the Pax family.

Everyone was staring at them except Kally. She kept her eyes down. Pax nodded his head enthusiastically. "Man, go Oracle of the dead, am I right? Rhyming satyr with traitor—those don't even have the same last two letters."

Axel would normally thank Pax for trying to cover for them but-for being Kronos's Silver Tongued Snake and spymaster-that was weak. Cassandra had done a better job warning the Trojans about the fall of Troy.

Euna broke the tension. "It was.." She was-to be fair-distracted since Calex was nodding off onto her shoulder.

Joey gave her sister a skeptical look. "I don't think you're aware enough to betray someone," she stated. "And I can't think of anything I've done that would mark me as a traitor."

Merry's jaw jutted slightly to one side. "Are you all ready for me to start stepping on some metaphorical toes? Because I have some theories on the rest of us, but they don't scream sunshine and rainbows."

No one protested. Although Calex was already drowsy, his head seemed to dip more; Axel suspected they both knew Merry's guess for Calex. Kally kept staring at the floor.

Merry took a deep breath in and plunged forward when no one stopped her. "Okay, we're ready for some sharing time again—the abbreviated version. Merry Blythe, sixteen, long walks on the beach, and my philosophy on life and combat is naturally treacherous and contradictory to that of a demigod. Some of the others have already shared, but you'll remember that Calex considers himself a traitor to his family for what happened in Kakata," she said it so casually, Calex hardly rolled his head up. "Kally's birth betrays her mother's association with the sun god. A little archaic, but let's not forget the gods like to blame things on other people's children."

Kally hugged herself. Pax squeezed her shoulder and Axel thought he could see Pax's mouth make the words, "You're so much more than that." Axel would have nodded his approval had Pax not done something stupid right afterwards.

When Merry's gaze settled between the Pax brothers, Pax sighed. Once again, Axel expected his brother to come up with some extravagant half-truth or discomfort that would leave the others guessing, probably involving killer rabbits. Instead, Pax said, "We were part of Kronos's army."

"Ajax!" Axel snarled. He clutched the armrests on his chair, contemplating whether it would be better to strangle his brother now or wait until they were out of sight.

"What?" Pax released Kally to throw his hands in the air. "Don't act like no one knew! I hang out with the two half-bloods in this camp that survived the war. They know we learned fighting from another godly group opposed to the Greek gods! Where are they going to think we learned from? Bible Camp?"

Axel growled. He dropped one hand to his sword hilt, only to find the handle of the frying pan. That would have to do. Pax didn't understand how dangerous that information could be but Pax hadn't been the one who kill Merry's half-brother and Pollux's twin. A scar on his left cheek burned. _Castor_. He'd struggled to find the names of those he'd murdered in the Battle of the Labyrinth's chaos but that one had stuck in his head. He could remember Pollux screaming as Axel crushed Castor's skull.

No one moved to attack. Calex's head twitched a little before he sagged backwards in his chair. Euna frantically reached around to keep him upright, though this left her blushing profusely. Joey blinked at Axel, looking either unamused or completely ignorant of what that meant. Kally didn't look up and Axel had some guesses on what information his little brother told her.

These people weren't Roman. They didn't know anything about the Triple A Demigod Slayers or anything about the Leonis Caput. Even if they did, nothing connected he or Pax to it. Axel forced himself to sit back and release his grip on the frying pan. He needed to find something more threatening.

Upon seeing Axel relax, Pax sat up more on his haunches. "We were even high ranking officers by the end. We got _fancy_ hats," he bragged.

"Shut up," Axel hissed. Hecate would not like her helms referred to as hats.

Merry gave Axel an encouraging smile. "It was pretty obvious sweetie. Now do you want to tell us about that next verse: _Cursed by boar, cursed by a dove_." She pointedly glanced down at his frying pan then back to his face.

Begrudgingly, Axel had to admit-for playing it so relaxed and sanguine-Merry was smart. He just hoped that would be to his advantage at some point instead of against him.

When he didn't respond immediately, Merry said, "We all _saw_ Aphrodite curse you. Something about Reyna…?"

Axel's face felt hot. In the mayhem of Howe Caverns, he didn't register that _everyone_ had heard Aphrodite curse him. He tried to clear his throat, but it felt dry.

Pax jittered in excitement. "Oh, that's like getting Zeus to admit that Hades has cooler powers, but just wait until he starts talking about-" Pax sat up, straightened his shoulders, and cocked his head down in an imitation of Axel. He lowered his voice, "-how graceful she looks while fighting and how innovative her strategies ar-"

"Shut up!" Axel cried. When they got out of this room, Axel was going to pulverize him.

"You really are weird," Joey sighed. "You can't just say she's pretty?"

Merry laughed heartily. "Wow, it is cute to see you flustered."

 _She's merciless_ , Axel thought, but he didn't know what to do. He'd never really been… teased by anyone other than Pax or Jack. He had even less weapons against that than the frying pan.

"Now, I can either let Pax tell us more about what you think of Reyna's battle strategies _or_ you can talk a little more about Aphrodite's boyfriend. I heard you mentioned him in Howe Cavern? There's a certain temperamental god she dates that can curse people by destroying their weapons… one that's associated with boars-"

Someone knocked on the door.

Merry sighed and leaned towards the door. "What, one-of-ever-so-well-timed-inconveniences?"

Whoever it was opened the door enough to stand in the doorway.

Axel had _never_ been so happy to see Jason Grace in his life. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt. I heard you guys had some successful quests." He smiled and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. They made his face seem softer, more scholarly and less militaristic. Axel had to wonder if Jason felt weird not being involved on this quest, with his background.

"It'd be cool to hear how they went later, but I was curious if I could borrow you, Axel," Jason nodded, his smile taking on a fierce quality. _There's the Roman_ , Axel thought. "My sister just dropped by and has agreed to play Capture the Flag with us. We need you in the war room for tonight's battle."

Although barely able to sit up, Calex chuckled. "Plan all you want, mate. We're getting that flag."

The ferocity left Jason's face, replaced by genuine concern, "Uh… Calex, should you even be playing?"

"He's got a few hours to recover," Joey assured.

Jason looked unsure.

Axel stood, knowing Calex would be devastated if they told Calex that he couldn't participate. Apparently the Brit's speed gave him a great edge in previous matches. "I'll meet you in Cabin One. I need to have a quick conversation with my brother."

Jason nodded.

Pax paled.

* * *

As soon as the Pax brothers exited the cabin and were out of sight of the others, Axel snagged Pax's ear.

" _Aye! Aye! Aye!_ " he whined, pawing at Axel's arm.

Axel glanced around. There were a few campers nearby, most having postponed afternoon activities to plot for Capture the Flag. Although the Pax brothers were relatively new to the camp, the sight of Axel scolding Pax was already so routine that few paid them notice. Matt was helping some of his siblings drag supplies towards Cabin One. He paused to give them thumbs up, dropping some ball bearings in the process that tripped his sister, Nyssa.

In Mayan, Axel hissed, _"How graceful she looks while fighting?"_

" _Yea, before the nightmares and Aphrodite, you said some hilarious stuff in your sleep,"_ Pax snapped.

" _What did you tell Kally?"_

" _I let her in on the full plan,"_ Pax whispered. That tone told Axel he'd have to ask again. _"I told her we'd made a pact with Lou Ellen to sneak us into the Big House while Chiron is distracted, so we could find out if Chiron uses the stables to go to the bathroom or if Matt really did make him a horse toilet like he claims-"_

Axel twisted Pax's ear. Before, Pax had been acting overdramatic. Now, he squeaked. " _Aye! Okay! Okay! I told her we kidnapped Rachel!"_

Axel clenched his jaw. _"What?! Why?"_ he growled.

" _Boredom-Aye! Okay-maybe I'm tired of hiding everything!"_ he snapped. Axel could tell that Pax was fighting off a frown, the rims of his eyes reddening with potential tears. " _Axel, I want people to like us because we're us-"_

" _Demigod. Slayer._ " Axel said, unsure if he could spell out how much demigods were predestined not to like them.

"- _not because we're lying. Kally didn't immediately start hating me like you said she would, though I'm sure I can come up with other reasons. She understands that we need to arrest dad-_ "

Guilt sank Axel's stomach at the word, _arrest_. He released Pax's ear. _**So fortunate the young are so gullible**_. He shook the thought away. After a moment, realization choked out his guilt. "Wait-you told her about _dad?_ "

"Well…" Pax took in a deep breath to speak in rapid fire Mayan, _"I told her we kidnapped Rachel-since the fastest way to get the trust of the Greeks was apparently to stage a kidnapping of their oracle-so we could get the Greeks to build the Golden Ass and get them to give us the Golden Net and that led to explaining why we needed both those things so I ended up telling her we needed to arrest our dad because he's an unoriginal, stereotypical evil and villainous fiend."_

Pax ended his rant with an innocent smile.

Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. " _ **You**_ _aren't going after him. Did you tell her about the coals? Or the…_ "

Pax gave him a skeptical look. "I figured I'd leave those details for the day I want her to break up with me or kill me with her discus."

Axel thought about scolding Pax on needlessly endangering them _and_ Kally. Knowing Pax, he'd have some excuse about enjoying the thrill. " _What happens if she tells Merry_?"

Pax looked dreamily off in the distance. " _What happens if Kally decides to break her oath and spend eternity under Orkus' command? Yea, she seems self-destructive like that_."

That urge to hit Pax for his recklessness: it was rising. " _What if she forgets_?"

Pax's sarcasm broke. He paled. "Oh Sister At _ë,"_ he swore, _"Then I'd have to fight Orkus… Do you think he'd accept a gift basket instead?_ " [footnote:3]

"At _ë_ is a name heroes should use not lightly."

When Nico Di Angelo stepped out of seemingly nowhere, Pax shrieked. Whether intentional or not, Pax assured Axel couldn't withdraw a weapon when Pax jumped into Axel's brother's arms.

Nico smiled wryly and Axel had a feeling this boy's favorite pastimes were creeping people out and posting pictures of dead clowns on the back of bathroom doors. " _Si sta così diffidare . Parlare una lingua gli altri non può capire,_ "the Child of Hades said with a rolling accent. [footnote: 4]

Axel dropped Pax.

Once Pax had righted himself, he gave Nico a devilish grin. "I don't know what you're saying-but you can talk to me in that language all night long."

Axel sighed. "Ajax."

" _What? Kally thinks he's cute too. I'm sure we could work something out_ ," Pax defended in Mayan.

Fortunately, Nico thought Pax was just being Pax. That was the problem with Pax: no one could ever tell when Pax was lying or being honest, joking or being genuine. Axel was aware that Pax never knew either-not until something worked for him and he sided with whichever did.

"This match will be… interesting," Nico said. "You have more reinforcements coming. Percy just Iris Messaged and said he's joining on Jason's side, but will be a little late."

Axel considered the numbers and found Nico's confidence at the comment suspicious. If Percy and Jason's sister were on their team, that would tip the scales drastically. From the dark glint in Nico's eyes, Axel felt like Nico wanted that. He remembered something Luke once said-that a child of the Big Three would probably always have to hold back. While Percy and Jason might need to be careful, Nico could go all out if he was fighting _all_ of them.

"Come on Pax, we need to find armor that will fit you," Nico said.

Axel blinked and glanced down at his little brother. "What?"

"Hermes is with Hades," Pax grinned. "So I'm going with them too. I'll see you on the battlefield... though you probably won't see me." That grin widened and Pax darted off with Nico.

Axel puffed his cheeks and popped them, realizing something horrifying: by choosing the opposite side, Pax had permission to attack Jason Grace. Not only was Axel going to have to focus on winning, he'd have to focus on keeping Jason Grace alive. This was going to be a more complicated game than he had thought.

Thanks for reading guys! Okay, so I was going to let you know: the next two chapters are "specials" that only exist because of aka-s-mel /Mel and frost-draws /Frost's commentary. They were really fun to write, but not in the original script. If you like them, make sure to send them your thanks XD

* * *

1 Don't worry. There's a reason I bring this up more than once :D

2 Pax keeps a ledger of mysterious things that Chiron decides he won't tell the children.

3 Ate: Goddess of Mischief and Ruin and—by some accounts—fatal flaws.

4 "How mistrusting-speaking a language no one else can understand," supposedly in Italian…. But I don't speak Italian so as a disclaimer, this is probably wrong.

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! Okay, so I was going to let you know: the next two chapters are "specials" that only exist because of aka-s-mel /Mel and frost-draws /Frost's commentary. They were really fun to write, but not in the original script. If you like them, make sure to send them your thanks XD


	13. Jason: I Get Even With Hearthstone

Thirteen: Jason

I Get Even With Hearthstone (Although I Have No Idea Who That Is)

Jason was excited for Capture the Flag. He'd missed the last few since he and Piper had been spending time with her dad. Remeeting a famous movie star that happened to be your girlfriend's dad: terrifying. Remeeting that person when he thinks you met at a wilderness school for delinquent children and _not_ saving him from a giant? Let's just say the first few dinner conversations had been a little tense between that and Tristan McLean's tight celebrity schedule. Jason didn't know that a pedicure and a foot massage could be a business meeting with an agent, but Jason had been too polite and nervous to turn it down when Tristan offered they tag along.

Piper said she could convince her dad to let Jason live with them; he could stay in one of their many spare rooms and they could go to school together. All of it felt too surreal though and too… too normal after all he'd been through.

Before Camp Half-Blood, New Rome had been his life, his schooling, and his ambition. To try to go to a normal school while living with the guy on the front cover of Vogue? Not happening. Especially not when he was scared Tristan had security cameras installed at every location in the house where Jason could kiss Piper goodnight.

He also had responsibilities here that he couldn't abandon and he'd been a little unnerved about how Piper said she could _convince_ her dad…

Jason tried to focus on the task at hand. Some friendly competition would be good between he and Piper-get them away from one another for a bit.

And with his "older" sister around, he didn't need to worry about being a leader or giving opinions or being taken seriously… which was... great.

With two children of the sky god, and the son of Poseidon rumored to be joining, this felt like an unfair, but assured victory. It made Jason suspicious of what Nico had planned.

His sister didn't seem worried. He'd practically had to beg her to keep it cabins versus cabins instead of Camp Half-Blood versus The All Girl's Club. His and Nico's plan would never work with the huntress'... 57th win streak. And Jason didn't know when they'd get another opportunity to find out more about the Pax brothers.

"Joey, Billie, and Euna, you patrol the borders," Thalia directed as they walked into the West half of the forest. [footnote 1] Instead of covering her silver tiara with a blue-plumed helmet like she was supposed to, Thalia had tied a spare plume to the zipper of her parka. That streak of blue against all the grey looked like a dash of lighting amongst stormy clouds. Jason found it fitting and strangely comforting.

The Demeter girls branched off without any question. Maybe it was because Thalia had been chatting with them earlier, or maybe they better understood the whole girl power thing, but Jason was a little annoyed that Thalia hadn't asked him who he thought best to patrol the borders.

"Butch, Matt, and Nyssa-go on defense. Jason and-"

She paused on Axel, unsure if she should know his name. Even she realized he was old to be a new camper.

"I was thinking Axel and I could go on the offense. You know, be useful and stuff," Jason suggested.

Thalia stared at him like he'd suggested she quit being a Huntress to marry his missing friend, Leo Valdez. While she did, Matt and Nyssa-in pieces of their experimental mecha gear with complimentary blow torch-continued towards the back with the flag and the muscular son of Iris. Axel examined Jason's face, waiting at full attention. The slightest hint of a smile curled the corner of his lips.

Jason remembered Percy saying that Jason's sister could be difficult. He could imagine the two of them fighting during their shared time at camp and was impressed neither had killed the other.

They stopped walking a few yards away from the border.

Thalia surprised him when she took a breath to explain herself, "You know Nico's strategies better than I do, Staple Face. You're better equipped to defend."

This was true, but Jason didn't want to derail his and Nico's plan. They'd both been a little excited to tell Annabeth they'd come up with it on their own. Besides, if Jason _was_ going to derail from the plan, he kind of wanted it to be for selfish reasons, like spending time with his sister. He hadn't seen Thalia since all the Giant and Gaea craziness and now here she was-like she didn't realize a season had passed. Yea, she'd given him a hug, but it had seemed cold and rushed, like leftover McDonald's. They hadn't had time to catch up earlier, before she walked off to talk to Chiron and the Song sisters.

Maybe he was feeling a little greedy. He was okay with that. If they dragged Axel along on offense, they could still have some Grace bonding time and get the job done. "We could strike them hard and fast. You and I could take Axel and fly in there-"

Thalia paled. "Definitely not!"

A conch horn blew in the distance, signaling the start of the game.

The ground rumbled.

Before Jason could apologize for forgetting his sister was against frequent flier miles, a thump sounded at his feet, like someone had punched a dirt wall. Something wrapped around his ankle and _pulled_. Not like it wanted to drag him down though, like it wanted to come _up_.

Joey shrieked in the distance.

Matt swore in Norwegian and Jason thought he could see the flicker of fire off in the trees.

A skeleton erupted from the ground in front of him, clawing up his leg greaves. It wore a plumed helmet, like Jason's but with red, Greek style armor, and a pleated ascot tie. In horror, he realized this was a camper who had died while playing Capture the Flag and no longer wanted to be a deadweight for his team. Jason yelped in surprise and swung his gladius to crack its skull.

The head popped off, but the hands were still clamped on his shorts. Getting flagged by a dead guy was not on the list of ways he wanted to impress his sister or Axel.

Jason felt the charge build in his body and he zapped the skeleton. The bones collapsed and crumbled into a pile in the ferns.

Unfortunately, that skeleton had brought some friends. At least five ghouls had popped out of the ground. All were at varying degrees of decay, some clean enough to be hung in a biology classroom while others had flesh sagging off their bones. One even had a giant insect mandible sticking out of its chest plate. Thalia blasted one back into pieces, but two more attacked her from behind. Axel broke one's arm off with… a frying pan? Who fights with a frying pan? Before diving under the sword of another.

There must have been others from the sound of his teammates' screams. Sure, Jason had seen lots of ghouls. He'd even dined with them at Odysseus's palace, but they never stopped being creepy and gross. When Nico had grinned at the news of fighting Percy, Jason, and Thalia on the same team, Jason had been confused. He hadn't realized _this_ is what Nico meant by "getting to play a little rougher."

This could _easily_ get someone killed. Jason had to say he approved.

Jason was about to help his sister-not that she needed it since she'd blasted another skeleton to pieces-when a figure burst through from the enemy's side.

"CALEX GET BACK HERE!" Joey shrieked.

The Brit sprinted past so fast, Jason might not have recognized him if it weren't for Joey's screams and the red and black beanie and a red plume tied around his neck. Calex had no weapon or armor to weigh him down, an idea that Jason would normally find ludicrous, but it meant the son of Eros would be impossible to catch on foot.

Right when Jason would have sent out a bolt to stun Calex, another skeleton jumped on his back. He threw the ghoul off and cut it down.

Calex disappeared into the woods.

Someone else ran up from the enemy's territory. This time, the person had a blue plumed helmet, a bronze breastplate, and a familiar celestial bronze blade. They were also more alive than 50% of the bodies around Jason.

"Dude, that kid is _fast_ ," said the new arrival. He must have come in late and gotten last pick on helmets, since the one he wore was probably made for their local Cyclops, Tyson. He pushed the rim up, revealing a pair of sea green eyes, dark hair, and a grin. "Can I get a lift bro?" he asked, opening one arm towards Jason.

Like they'd never parted. Despite the disappointment of having the plan fall apart, Jason had to smile. He could always expect Percy Jackson to think the same way he did.

"Guess we're on defense," Jason said.

Percy laughed, "You think that Huntress would let a boy lead? Trust me, it's not worth the fight." He gave him a knowing look.

"Will you two get to work," Thalia snapped. Amusement dimpled her cheeks. She finished off the last skeleton attacking her, turning to the one Axel was smashing to pieces.

Although Jason couldn't explain the plan to Thalia—about keeping Axel on offense-he felt better about everything. It would be up to her and Axel to win without any… ulterior motive from him or Nico.

"You gonna do your superman thing or am I going to strike this dramatic pose all day?" Percy asked.

Jason nodded toward Thalia and Axel as he jogged to Percy. "Good luck getting the flag-without maiming or killing!" he added. Thalia looked confused. Axel finished off the skeleton and turned to face them.

The wind rustled around them, kicking up twigs and leaves. This was more dangerous in the forest-more things to hit and hidden archers to avoid.

Just their kind of party.

"Let's go," he said.

Jason grabbed Percy and launched them into the air. As his feet left the ground, he could hear Axel shout, "Wait!" but it was too late. They were already catapulting to the tree tops, towards the defensive ring around their flag. Jason tried to stay low enough to catch sight of Calex and avoid Kally's discus or Will's bow, but not too low to catch the tops of trees. Impalement didn't sound like a good reunion activity.

Jason couldn't say he wasn't a little disappointed. He had wanted to fight beside Axel. The strange boy had the hidden playfulness of a Greek with the discipline of a Roman, not quite fit for either-like Jason himself. But nothing beat a brawl alongside Percy Jackson.

The wind whistled too loud for them to talk as Jason searched the trees. He could see Matt and Nyssa's mecha gear blasting skeletons to pieces and Connor and Travis Stoll dropping onto Butch from behind. They'd have to help them as soon as they were done with Calex.

Percy tugged Jason's arm and pointed at a figure just below them: Calex.

Was Percy shivering? Jason forgot his friend had an aversion to flying-lord of the sky detesting him and all that. Between that and how Jason was carrying a half-blood that must have weighed at least 170 lbs _without_ the armor, he was glad to crash down onto Calex.

He might have also enjoyed interrupting Calex's joy run for other reasons. It wasn't that he cared how much time Calex spent with Piper when they were at camp, or that they hugged a lot, or that she was secretive about their conversations. Jason understood it could take awhile to open up, especially when you have a complicated past. Jason didn't even care that Piper had been talking to her dad about possibly housing Calex as well, if Calex couldn't go back to the UK. Piper was just being compassionate; she was the most caring girl Jason knew, and he trusted her. It must have been the accent. That's what Jason must have found off putting about the son of Desire who was rapidly befriending his girlfriend.

Regardless, Jason felt bad about how good it would feel to knock out Calex Rupin McKenzie.

Calex didn't expect an aerial assault. When the wind slammed into his back, he stumbled onto the ground, something falling from his pocket. Jason descended beside him, setting Percy down.

Calex scrambled to his feet, eyes frantically darting to them. There was something in them Jason hadn't expected: terror. Then recognition came. Calex relaxed and sat back on the ground. He put his hands up. "I'm not mental, mate, and I'm downright knackered," he said as a type of surrender.

Jason reached down to pick up the cloth that fell from Calex's pocket. It was a replica flag for Jason's team, with the inscription, _Fake Flag #3_ and _Coloring is Fun_ with the sloppy signatures of Cabin Eleven in the corner. "You're a decoy," Jason realized.

Like the skeletons weren't enough. Three decoy teams? If the Stolls were another, Jason had to wonder who the last one was and who was the actual strike force. It was dangerous to spread your forces so thin, but when you had skeletons to take the brunt of the fighting, he supposed they could afford that. He and Percy needed to get back to patrolling.

"So, are we going to have to take you prisoner? Or are you going to be good and sit here for us?" Percy asked.

Taking prisoners back to their jail would waste valuable time. That's why Jason was relieved and surprised when Calex said, "I think I'll just be here for a bit. Won't move until I hear someone won."

Had this been one of the Stoll brothers, Jason would have called that a pile of unicorn dung. As annoying as Calex's accent was, he'd proven himself a half-blood of his word during prior Capture the Flag games.

"Come on Grace, we've got some Stolls to steal," Percy said before running in the direction they'd seen the Hermes brothers.

Jason nodded to Calex-who reclined back for a nap-and dashed after Percy.

A skeleton stepped right into Percy's path. Instead of stopping, Percy pivoted agilely to the side, spun, and swung his sword around like a baseball bat, shattering the ghoul's skull. Percy laughed like that cranium was the ultimate homerun. An unusual way for Percy to use Riptide, but effective.

"Man, like the good ol' days right?" Percy asked.

Jason had to agree. As much as it was great for the world to stop trying to end, not to be an amnesiac, and for the six of them to get a shot at the normal social awkwardness of being a teenager, he missed the adrenaline of fighting beside the others. He wasn't used to spending time with Piper or the others without some eminent doom proclaimed or… or without Leo.

Percy slowed to a halt. "Uh, speaking of which dude, you've been having nightmares, right?"

Jason frowned. Everyone at camp had been having nightmares. Sometimes, they'd still plague Jason at the McLean house. They didn't feel like prophecies though-not the way most his dreams did. It was either reruns of past battles-like when his mother's mania confronted him and he was stabbed by a the ghost of a former praetor-or of some random monster. But Percy knew that. They'd Iris Messaged about it on multiple occasions.

"Yea, I'm still having them," Jason said. "Did yours stop?"

Percy frowned. Then, his eyes gravitated up on Jason's helmet and he laughed. "Let me see your helmet for a sec. Looks like you got bombed by some higher altitude fliers."

Jason was about to suggest Percy just blast it with some water, but realized that might also blast his head off. He took the helmet off, tossed it to Percy, and took a few more steps towards the direction of the Stoll brothers. He could still hear Butch yelling, but that didn't mean the Stoll brothers hadn't gotten away. They needed to be on patrol, helping to control the whole _Night of the Living Dead_ outbreak, but he also figured Percy wouldn't be pausing unless he had something important to say.

"Nico and I were talking a while ago about something," Percy said as he walked up along Jason. "Have you ever heard of the kiss of death?"

Jason didn't see how this related to their nightmares or the game, but he nodded. "I think it had something to do with the mafia, right?"

Percy nodded, absently shining Jason's helmet with a stray piece of cloth. Jason was surprised he hadn't just blasted it with water. "Yea, the mafia did it to mark someone out for execution as a warning. Someone else did it though. A member of Kronos's army called Jak-Jak. Before he sent out the Demigod Slayers to assassinate Romans. But Jack is dead now..."

Percy stopped walking.

Jason might have been worried had he fully registered the last few sentences. But he didn't. He was too stunned when Percy snatched him by the chest plate and kissed him.

Jason had destroyed Krios with his bare hands. He'd slain the Trojan Sea Monster. He thought nothing else could surprise him.

But Jason panicked.

Percy withdrew before Jason had the wherewithal to react.

At first, Jason's mind was reeling. _What am I going to tell Piper? Annabeth is going to kill me-oh gods-_ _ **Nico!**_ Then his brain caught up with his hearing. That and he registered-the devilish smirk on Percy's face that _definitely_ wasn't a Percy expression.

Unfortunately, he saw that right as Percy cracked his forehead into Jason's exposed temple.

Jason out.

* * *

Footnote:

1 When I released the first book _Whispers of a Snake_ , _Trials of Apollo_ hadn't been released yet and I didn't know Billie was going to be a character…. So between Riordan's characters and my own, apparently Demeter is just REALLY into Korean guys.


	14. Thalia:Trick Arrows Are Only Dumb When

Fourteen: Thalia

Trick Arrows Are Only Dumb When Apollo Uses Them

The last few weeks had been rough on Thalia. She'd had little to no sleep, minimal interaction with their goddess, Artemis, and had torn her favorite spiked necklace in a fight with a wild dog. To say the least, punching campers felt great.

And blowing up skeletons? Excellent stress relief.

Will didn't realize Thalia had spotted him creeping up on their conversation. The son of Apollo was notoriously a better healer than strategist, and his red plume and shiny helmet camouflaged him as well as a _stab here_ sign would.

As soon as Jason and Percy took off, Will drew his bowstring-no doubt with one of Apollo's impractical trick arrows.

Neither Thalia's little brother nor the son of Poseidon noticed Will. Percy and Jason would be as easy to pick off as-well-flying ducks.

Thalia tapped the silver bracelet on her wrist. The metal clicked, expanding and rotating. That arm became heavy as the bracelet warped into a strap and a second one sprang around her hand. It twisted into a full shield: _Aegis._

"Will Solace!" she shouted, hefting the bronze Medusa depiction into clear view.

When Will saw it, he recoiled. He jerked his bow and the arrow shot off, probably getting closer to shooting his dad's chariot than Percy or Jason. Though Thalia had to wonder how Will had planned to accommodate for her brother's windstorm.

While Will was still terrified by the shield, she sprinted forward. "Euna, Axel, to me!" she called. "Joey, Billie, hold the border."

"Wait-" Axel shouted.

But they needed to push forward _now_ before Will could gather his senses. "We'll be fine without Jason," she snapped.

From behind, she heard Axel say, "Come on Euna."

She didn't wait for them. Thalia snatched a vial of mace from her belt, twisting the top to expand it into a spear. She'd need distance to take out Will before he could shoot her.

When Will realized Thalia was charging him with the shield of Aegis on full display, he scrambled backwards, notching another arrow. A root erupted from the ground, snatching the end of his longbow and dragging it to the ground. Thalia would have to thank Euna for keeping Will rooted later. With his bow out of commission, Thalia altered tactics.

Will had just enough time to drop his bow and draw a sword before Thalia slammed into him, knocking him onto the ground.

Artemis 126. Apollo: 47. Girls rule. Thalia got to revel in the victory for all of a second.

"Thalia move!" Axel roared.

Thalia glanced up in enough time to have 200 pounds of muscle smash into her side. Not okay. She and Axel rolled once before Axel sprang back to his feet. He landed with the agility of an annoying, overgrown cat, one hand extended like he had claws, the other holding a frying pan that might have been in better shape had Tyson decided to cook breakfast for the whole camp.

But what lay in front of them was majorly underwhelming for Axel's reaction.

Axel faced a tiny ball.

"Oh my gods," Thalia growled. "You plowed me over for _that_."

Euna jogged up behind them, not seeming to notice it.

Axel's eyes widened. "Euna-don't-"

"Hm?" she managed before green smoke exploded out of the ball, engulfing her. When the smoke dissipated, there was a cute, pink piglet wriggling in a pile of Euna's clothing.

The piglet looked at them, looked at the ground, and paused. If pigs could have existential crises, this pig was having it.

"Ah…" Thalia said. _Magic_. The huntresses of Artemis sometimes scoffed at Circe's or Hecate's magic users, but she had to admit, they brought home the bacon on this one.

Axel's head twitched as his eyes darted from tree to tree. Thalia could swear he was _listening_ for something to move, the way an animal would. She'd hunted plenty of prey that had done the same thing before the huntresses descended.

He shot a finger out. "She's on that branch."

In the direction he pointed, a feminine voice muttered, "Aw Styx."

Thalia pointed her spear, electricity arching off the tip and toward the tree. It seared Lou Ellen's Mist concealment spell right off. The daughter of Hecate dropped from the tree, unconscious and maybe a little charbroiled. Thalia had to begrudgingly admit: she was impressed. Both by Lou Ellen's Mist spell and by Axel's ability to detect it. Had Lou Ellen run into her one-on-one, Thalia would have been squealing indignantly, with much beadier eyes and a rosier complexion.

Euna handled the situation like a champ. Once the pig's existential crisis was over and she'd decided she was-in fact-a pig, or Thalia assumed that's what happened at least, the piglet squealed once in alarm, trotted up to Axel, and poked his leg with her snout.

Although Thalia assumed she was just being speciesist, it looked like the pig's eyes were begging, _feed me._

"When we do our sparing, you and I are going to have a serious talk about situational awareness," Axel sighed. He reached a hand down, hesitated, then gently pet the pig's back. "You're on point when someone is attacking you, but beyond that, your reaction speed could use some improvement."

The Euna-piglet went rigid under his touch but didn't run away. Axel withdrew his hand.

They couldn't leave her and Lou Ellen in the woods. There were too many monsters around. Fortunately, Will was stirring. Thalia felt bad for Euna, but without the daughter of Hecate conscious, there wasn't much they could do for her. "We need to keep moving."

Axel nodded and took a step toward the creek boundary.

Euna-piglet raced beside his leg, squealing again in protest.

His shoulders slumped a little. "Thalia, could you pull Euna's shirt from her pile of clothing?"

"Really?" Thalia stared at Axel. Even with Percy and Jason defending their flag, they needed to move _now_ before more skeletons showed up. For a brief second, she considered leaving them behind to watch over Will and Lou Ellen.

Then she noticed the slight blush on Axel's face when he glanced over at the pile of clothes. _Boys_ , Thalia inwardly groaned. She quickly rolled Euna's undergarments into her pants. She withdrew Euna's shirt and tossed it to Axel.

Axel caught it. "I'm going to have to carry you," he informed the tiny piglet. He picked her up, wrapped her gently in her shirt, and tucked her under one arm. Once completed, Axel turned to Thalia-frying pan ready in one hand, pig-in-a-blanket in the other-and said, "Let's capture that flag." [footnote 1]

* * *

For a brief moment, Thalia envisioned finishing her conversation with Euna while she was in piglet form. Thalia stopped as soon as she thought about Euna-piglet nodding her head empathetically and saying, "Yes, tell me more. _Oink._ " Weird to think that pigs could be nightmare fodder, but the idea of someone turning into a talking, huntable animal around Artemis seemed horrifying. [footnote 2]

The talk with Artemis before they got to camp had been embarrassing enough. Thalia didn't need anything to make it worse, assuming it _could_ be worse. After they'd received that taunt from Apollo, they'd been hunting endlessly. The huntresses had been glad to crash in Cabin Six for a short respite. When Thalia asked if they were holding off on this Capture the Flag, Eowi—one of the smallest—rolled over in her bunk, muttering, "One more fortnight" before curling up with her stuffed animal stag.

There were probably a thousand better ways for Thalia to bring the conversation up with the goddess. Artemis was about to leave them to continue ahead so her obstinate brother didn't gain any distance on their quarry. But Thalia hadn't thought the conversation would be complicated.

"Can huntresses have relationships with other girls?" Thalia had asked. When the goddess's silvery-gold eyes glanced back at Thalia, she realized her mistake. "I'm asking for a friend!" she promised. Thalia smacked her forehead, "Oh my gods, I swear I'm _actually_ asking for a friend."

Artemis slid an arrow that she'd been inspecting into her quiver and gave Thalia her full attention. Confusion—not anger as Thalia had feared—made her raise an eyebrow. "Of course. We're all sisters in the hunt."

Thalia could feel her cheeks burn. "The friend—" She realized how unlikely that sounded and wanted to punch a tent. "—more…uh… meant… more-than-friendship relationships."

Artemis had a reaction Thalia could never have predicted and was more painful than being turned into a bear. She asked, "What do you mean?"

Fortunately Thalia was able to dodge out of the rest of that conversation so she could talk about it when her thoughts were more collected and she was less mortified. She told Artemis she had business to attend to with Chiron, stuff that didn't involve romantic nonsense: talk of the huntresses' quarry and about if the goddess had been trapped in a paradox. If it was a paradox, Thalia needed to know how to get out of it.

When Thalia marched into the Big House and told Chiron of her fears, he confirmed them. "That beast she hunts," he had said, "is indeed uncatchable. I'm not sure why Apollo would challenge such a thing, especially considering how angry Zeus is with him."

From what she knew of Apollo, he _would_ do something that foolish, even if just for attention. After all, the sun god had fallen for Octavian's flattery and—from what she heard—Octavian looked and sounded as creepy as one would expect from the stories. When she realized there wouldn't be much resolving this unless she talked to Apollo directly, Thalia sighed. As an afterthought, she asked Chiron about Artemis's confusion.

Chiron laughed. "You forget, Artemis lives away from the ever shifting classifications of society—especially the classification of love. Tell her you mean it in the manner of Sappho's poetry. She'll understand better then." [footnote 3]

Thalia would have to ask that—after she and Axel Pax got the flag and kept the Huntresses' winning streak. Just because the other girls were resting didn't mean Artemis's reputation wasn't on the line.

As they dashed away from Will and Lou Ellen, Axel asked, "Do you like being a Huntress of Artemis?"

Thalia glanced at him. Most campers had a hard time keeping pace with the huntresses. She remembered the first time she met Zoe Nightshade, when Zoe had tried to convince her to leave Annabeth and Luke; Thalia had been furious about Zoe's additional speed and agility that kept Thalia from beating her up.

Axel kept pace with her—pig and all—without a problem.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why? You thinking about joining?"

Another skeletal patrol shambled into their path. Axel smashed the head off one while Thalia halved the spinal column of the other. They were getting close to the flag. Thalia was surprised not to see more guards. Maybe Nico's team decided to play a more offensive game when they realized they'd be fighting Jason, she, _and_ Percy.

Axel snorted. "I'm a little old and a little biologically challenged."

Thalia thought about Orion, the only male hunter to exist, who had shot down huntresses and Amazons in pursuit of Reyna Ramirez. The rage she felt, remembering his black arrows sticking out of the girls' carcasses, had only grown with the passing months. She remembered the coldness of those mechanical eyes and wondered if Axel's could look like that too.

But this wasn't Orion and the war against Gaea was over. She reminded herself, as she frequently had to remind the huntresses, not all men were evil or lesser beings. They were just stupid and had coodies.

"Are you also romantically challenged?" Thalia grumbled with a roll of her eyes. She'd heard that as a common reason when people joked about joining.

With her senses, Thalia could tell there was another patrol ahead. She heard the crunch of foliage and the gentle clank of armor. In a game for speed and stealth, Thalia never understood why the Greeks wore heavy armor; it might have been stealthier for them to be tooting battle marches on kazoos. She was glad Axel had chosen leather to protect himself.

He must have heard the same noise, his head doing that odd twitch that made him look like a wasp had declared personal vendetta against Axel's ear. They slowed down at the same time and Axel's voice dropped to a whisper. "There… there is someone I like, but I shouldn't be with her," he said, eyes darting to find the source of the sound.

 _Shouldn't be with her_. The image of Luke's blond hair and blue eyes popped into Thalia's head. She clenched her fists around her shield and spear. Sometimes, she would stare at the constellations and wonder what would have happened if she'd listened to Zoe Nightshade the first time she met her, if she'd left Annabeth and Luke. Maybe she could have prevented the whole war. The monsters wanted _her_. Luke and Annabeth would have made it safely to camp without _her_ and then he wouldn't have been embittered because Zeus didn't save them.

That was ridiculous though. _Luke made his own choices_ , she reminded herself. Now, he'd be reincarnated and grow up to fix them. Maybe she'd meet him again in his next life.

By now, they could see the flag. The material was currently a grey, symbolizing Cabin Six's previous victory. It swayed gently on a high branch. There must have been guards, but Thalia didn't see any.

This was some kind of trap. Thalia stopped and crouched. She turned to Axel to find him, not examining the flag, but examining her.

"This is almost over. I don't know if I'll ever meet you again to say this," he said, forming each word like he was strategically pinning locations on a war map. "He never wanted to hurt you. He talked about you a lot, about how happy he would be to see you again and have you by his side. We all hated what Kronos did to Luke, but he would have wanted you to know that, before Kronos broke his mind, all he wanted was a world where you and Annabeth could be happy and safe."

Thalia stared at Axel. Her gut reaction was to electrocute him. She didn't, but the temptation was fierce. It was like he had read her mind.

Euna-piglet squirmed.

Axel frowned and turned his gaze back to the flag. Too late did he and Thalia realize Euna's wriggling was a warning.

When Thalia heard the clank of metal beside her, she twisted Aegis to scare off the opponent. Axel also went into defensive mode. He dropped his frying pan… and slipped on a pair of red headphones? What kind of strategy was that?!

"You'll want to drop your weapons," someone suggested. "There's no reason to fight."

At the start of this match, Thalia was fully confident that she would personally need to assure Cabin Eight's victory. Now, daughter of Zeus, lieutenant for Artemis, dropped her shield and spear at the feet of her little brother's girlfriend.

Euna-piglet dropped a tiny branch that she'd been carrying in her mouth.

Piper looked stunning in her Greek armor and red plumed helmet. She held a celestial bronze sword in her hand. She pushed Aegis to the side with her foot. The shield clearly alarmed her. Thalia would have to apologize later for bringing it, since there wasn't any reason for them to have weapons out.

"I'd say it's a beautiful day for a walk towards our prison, wouldn't you agree?" Piper asked.

Normally, the thought of a daughter of Aphrodite outfoxing a huntress of Artemis would have been more insulting than when the children of love threw a Valentine's Day bash in Cabin Eight. They were still finding pink glitter in their bunks. To be fair though, Thalia hadn't talked much with Piper. If her brother was dumb enough to get mixed up in love, maybe she should care more about who he was dating.

Besides, she could tell Piper about embarrassing stories from when he was baby. How long ago was that? After spending several years as a tree and several more as an immortal, she had trouble telling time. Since they had hunted across so many climates at various times of year, she couldn't even trust the seasons to alert her to time's passage. It was a little unsettling, and even more so when she heard older huntresses whispering that Thalia would stop asking, "what year is it?" after all her loved ones, and their children, and grandchildren died. She liked thinking about her little brother as a baby or the now-older-brother. Not as a corpse.

Thalia shook her head, confused. Something was jumbling her thoughts—stuff about Luke, about Jason, about Artemis. There was a nagging that she should be doing _something_ but had forgotten what it was.

"A walk sounds nice," Thalia decided. Whatever it was could wait. "I've been meaning to ask, what kind of music do you listen to?" Piper didn't really strike Thalia as a _Misfits_ kind of girl, but Thalia could always hope. Most of the huntresses still talked _Girls Just Want to Have Fun_ like it came out yesterday and said her music sounded like two Cyclopea bashing heads. That description suited Thalia just fine.

Another red plumed figure—Malcolm from the Athena cabin—jogged up with a spear in hand. When he saw Thalia, Axel, and the Euna-piglet, he stopped. He warily glanced at Piper. "Nico just left for the full assault. Everything okay back here?"

Piper grinned. "We were about to start talking about music while walking to the prison. Would you like to join?"

Malcolm peaked down at Aegis, then nodded. His grey, calculating eyes reminded Thalia of Annabeth. She wondered where the daughter of Athena was. She hadn't had time to ask before she talked to Chiron.

As Thalia took step towards the opposing prison, she couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. It must have been Axel's hesitancy. He gently set Euna down.

"Would you two—three campers?" Piper tilted her head at Euna-piglet. "Is that a camper?"

Euna nodded in what Thalia imagined was an amiable gesture. The piglet wriggled out of her blanket-shirt and took a few happy paces forward.

Piper grinned. From the way her eyes lit up, Thalia could tell Piper thought the piglet was adorable. "Would you three like to walk first? I'd love for you to have the best view."

So far, Thalia liked Piper. Maybe take her to a few concerts and they could make Jason really nervous about how much they were hanging out.

While Thalia took a step toward the prison, Axel flicked a lighter out. For a disgusted second, Thalia thought he was about to light a cigarette. Instead, he slipped a finger inside his mouth and then dropped it to the flame.

The flame doubled in size and blazed turquoise.

Malcolm was in mid-step to stop Axel when the older boy brandished the same finger at Piper like an over enthusiastic teacher pointed at a board. He hissed something like, " _K'ala'an Chi'_ ," in a language Thalia had never heard before.

Malcolm and Piper jumped at the snarl. She shouted at Axel to stop. Or she tried. Despite the muffled sound and motion to speak, her lips stuck shut like someone had laced them with invisible thread, something Thalia was sure Hermes had done to someone more than once. Piper's eyes widened. She readied her sword.

Meanwhile, Malcolm rushed at Axel to knock the flame from his hand. Axel slipped away the lighter, dove down, rolled past Malcolm, and snatched Aegis from the ground.

It wasn't until Axel threw the shield towards her like the world's most epic game of Death Frisbee that Thalia registered what had happened: she'd almost willingly let a daughter of Aphrodite stroll her into their local jail. Whenever Thalia died and went to Elysium, Silena Beauregard would mock her for the rest of eternity.

Axel's aim was off. Aegis flew between she and Piper and clanked harmlessly in the foliage. Thalia didn't need it though. All she needed was the sight of the Gorgon's head imprinted on the front to snap her out of the enchantment.

Thalia drew her hunting daggers. There was a moment where Piper might have been able to overwhelm Thalia, but the daughter of Aphrodite had been too alarmed by her speechlessness to act. Thalia charged. Piper parried the first dagger swipe, but wasn't ready for the second. Had Piper not retreated, Thalia's blade would have slipped through the chinks in her shoulder armor.

Thalia grinned at her little brother's girlfriend. Piper might have been one of the seven Heroes of Olympus and had a better reach with her weapon, but Thalia was the lieutenant for the Huntresses of Artemis. She had years of training, experience, and the blessing of a huntress's speed. And she would _not_ let Silena—or the other children of Aphrodite-mock her for eternity.

Within the next slash, Thalia had Piper disarmed.

Piper scrambled a few steps backwards, reaching to draw a triangular blade from her belt. She might have succeeded had a piglet not darted between her legs, tripping her to the ground.

Thalia kicked the weapon away, her grin now crooked. "We'll have to pick another day for a girl's date to talk about music," she said.

Axel dropped Malcolm's limp body beside Piper.

Piper had been about to smile at Thalia, but the expression vanished as she flipped Malcolm over. The son of Athena was breathing, but unconscious. There were bruises forming along his neckline from a professional choke job. Thalia approved.

"Hey, Chiron said no maiming or killing," Axel said sheepishly. "He didn't say anything about choke slams."

Piper gave him a look that made Thalia wonder why she was worried in the first place. This was Capture the Flag. It was _supposed_ to be more dangerous than a holiday to Hades's palace. And that was speaking from experience.

Euna-piglet cheerfully trotted up alongside Axel. Axel crouched down to pick up her shirt and his frying pan. Carefully, he petted her back. "Nice double trip there. We couldn't have done it without you. Are you okay with me carrying you again?"

She made a long grunt of approval.

If Nico was on the advance, they didn't have time for this. Not that she didn't believe Percy and Jason could hold their own, but both boys had a soft spot for the son of Hades—something Nico would be willing to exploit. Thalia glanced around to relocate the flag. There weren't any other guards, but she believed Nico left Piper and Malcolm to defend it alone. With Piper's charm speak, she could have taken anyone who came over here—she, Jason, or Percy. She'd have to ask Axel how he'd silenced Piper and gotten the headphones idea.

The flag still waved from the upper branch. No time to waste on climbing. Thalia sheathed her daggers, withdrew the long bow from her back, strung it, and fired a grappling arrow to drag the material down. She had to admit: not all trick arrows were dumb. Just Apollo's.

With a flick of the wrist, the arrow did its job. The string attached rapidly decreased, ripping the flag from the branch and into Thalia's hands. Once done, she snatched up Aegis and her spear and turned to run towards the river's boundary line. She twisted the end of her spear, shrinking it to a canister of mace so she could hold her bow instead.

Axel, with a freshly wrapped pig under one arm, raced beside her.

They were yards away from the finish line when Thalia spotted Nico. He was sprinting at them at top speed, a hoard of skeleton warriors covering his movement. As predicted, Jason and Percy might have gone _a little_ easy on the defenses; Nico had their flag in his hands. He made eye contact with Thalia and thrust a hand out in their direction.

The ground trembled.

Then it parted under her feet.

Thalia had enough time to fire two arrows. The first was a trip wire—expertly aimed at Nico's legs. The second was the grappling arrow, flag still attached. As the crack in the Earth's surface engulfed her, Thalia had to swallow her pride. _She_ might not be able to carry the flag across the finish line, but the huntresses of Artemis might still be the reason they won.

Thalia aimed the grappling hook at Axel, whose form she could see lung across the corner of the crevice with beast-like agility. As she fell, she could only hope he caught the flag.

* * *

Footnotes:

1 I should rename this book _In Which Axel Will Not Be Taken Seriously_

2 Pax would like to say pigs are definitely nightmare fodder and that he's getting to the point where even Porky Pig unnerves him.

3 Unfortunately, historians don't know a lot about female-to-female romance in Ancient Greece. (Although homosexual relationships between a full grown man and a youthful boy have been accepted as common and encouraged, especially in the educational field. If that happened today, we would call that pedophilia and frown upon it. Crazy how times change, right? [Which makes me pause to point out… yes, Apollo would be very accepting of male-to-male relationships, but it's a little dangerous for Riordan to imply we should follow the Greek mentality on that… since not all Greeks were friendly towards adult male-to-male relationships… augh, I'm getting creeped out thinking about 3,000 year old Apollo hitting on a fifteen-year-old. I'll stop there.]) If the god's opinions update with shifts in society, however, and Artemis is a little behind the curve (as she exists exterior to society and with girls who theoretically haven't explored the romantic field as much), it depends on how up to date her knowledge is. Of course she's heard of female-to-female relationships, but the terminology and societal view on it as a romance would change. Sorry for a grossly over-stuffed footnote! If you guys have more information on this, I'd love to hear it! :D

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Thanks for reading! :D


	15. Axel: Flags for Trickery, Not Victory

Fifteen: Axel

A Flag for Trickery, Not Victory

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Axel would never admit it, but he didn't see the grappling hook coming. It nailed him in the side and almost made him lose his balance. He'd been a little preoccupied, jumping over the earth as it crumbled under his feet and Euna-piglet squealed in terror.

He also didn't register the flag attached at first. For a moment, he thought the son of Hades had killed the daughter of Zeus to win a game of Capture the Flag. A little extreme, but Axel could understand. Maybe there was a pot roast at the end—or maybe Capture the Flag was really just entertainment to keep the gods from destroying the Earth. Good exercise and a good prevention of the apocalypse.

Either way, Axel wasn't going to let Thalia die. She'd meant too much to Luke when he was still Luke.

Drop might have been a harsh word for what he did to Euna-piglet, but he set her down a lot less gently than he would have preferred. Axel clutched the rope and pulled it to a nearby olive tree. He grunted under the weight of the huntress as the line went taut. When he bent down to anchor the grappling hook, arrow, and hopefully an attached Thalia on the other end, a hand reached out of the tree to grab his wrist.

Olive, the tree nymph, scowled at him. Her torso was out of the tree and Axel suddenly felt horrifically embarrassed for touching her roots.

"You big dope!" she snapped, snatching the rope from his hands and anchored it onto a branch. The nymph shoved the flag back at him with her hand, slapped him hard enough to knock him into Xibalba, and shouted, "Go win the game!"

The look on Olive's face said he'd overestimated the danger levels and Nico's willingness to murder campers. Sheepishly, Axel turned back towards the boundary line, where Euna-piglet was already in full charge towards Nico and his skeleton army, ready to defend the line with her tiny piglet life.

Something had tripped Nico and made him faceplant into the ground, but he was already getting up. His skeletons were alive and well—they were dead and well—Axel decided he really shouldn't use that phrase with skeletons—but they were still advancing to defend the line.

They wouldn't advance fast enough.

Axel lunged into a full sprint. Skeletal hands erupted from hidden sections of foliage, forcing him into a delicate dance as he ran, twisting and contorting his body, occasionally rolling or doing a hand spring over a rising skull. He wanted to curse at Chiron. _Who would have thought there would be so many dead bodies in a forest stocked with monsters?_

When Axel crossed the river, he half-expected Nico to be giving him a victory wave from the other side. But he wasn't. Nico was still on Axel's—the blue team's—side and seemed to relax at Axel's victory. All the skeletons had collapsed into piles of bones and rusted armor. Nico sat, cross-legged, with Euna-piglet in his lap. He petted her like he was a sinister villain and she, his fluffy cat.

Euna-piglet trembled in terror. Considering Axel had heard that Nico was prone to killing the grass he stood on when he was in a bad mood, Axel thought it might be a good idea to get her out of there. He'd hate to see what Nico did with guinea pigs, hamsters, and gold fish. Those things didn't need extra reasons to die.

Nothing happened to announce the victory. For some reason, Axel assumed there'd be some sort of instant celebration, like maybe the satyrs would show up to do a river dance in the creek water.

The woods rustled. Campers from both sides piled out of the woods, laughing and chatting—the ones that were still conscious anyway. Axel could hear the approaching clatter of Chiron's hooves. Thalia climbed out of the crevice and joined them.

"You almost blew it!" she snapped. "I'd have blasted you with lightning if you made me waste my arrow." Once she leveled with him, Thalia smiled. "It's good to know that you'd have my back if Nico were actually trying to kill me. You're not bad—for being a boy."

She raised her hand for a high-five.

Axel thought about the high fives he exchanged with Luke after sword fighting practice or with Jack after an _Orpheus Metal_ concert. It wasn't a thing Pax and he did much. Axel realized—he might not have _had_ a high five since everyone died in the Battles of Manhattan and Mount Othrys.

The confused look he gave Thalia's hand must have made him look new to Earth. He could envision his little brother now, " _And that's how you express friendship—something you suck at_."

Axel high fived her back. To his glee, she clenched his hand in a shake—the exact way Luke used to. Maybe it was because of how often Luke talked about her, but something about Thalia reminded Axel of him.

Nico untangled himself from what Axel assumed was one of Thalia's trip arrows, stood, and walked to them. Euna remained silent in his arms. "Good match, but, Thalia, you might want to take the flag before everyone gets close."

When she released Axel and glanced at the material in his other hand, her smile fell.

Axel followed her gaze. Nothing _looked_ wrong with the grey material. He wondered if they had dozens of these flags in the Big House, so they could switch them out for whichever cabin won. With the confusion on Thalia's face, he wondered, _did I do something wrong?_

The material suddenly felt hot. For a second, the edges seemed to tear into squares. Almost like the lining of a war banner.

"That's weird, I've never seen this thing malfunction before," Thalia said as she reached for the flag. As soon as her finger's made contact, the flag shimmered to a silver with the symbol of Artemis embroidered in the center.

Axel stared. Then he realized: there weren't dozens of these flags. There were only two. And this wasn't a game of camaraderie. It had been a set up for information. Most likely, they'd pushed for Pax to be on the opposing strike team, to increase the chances of _one_ of them crossing the camp boundary with a flag and the flag morphing to give away their parentage.

Axel seriously considered attacking the son of Hades in front of all the campers and Chiron. Had Nico not had Euna in his arms, Axel might have.

The campers close by had quieted to whispers. Those further away were still cheering or bemoaning the loss. Once they saw the flag, they grumbled about _another_ winfor the huntresses.

Chiron clattered up, two people on his back. His expression was dark.

"Chiron," Thalia called, holding the flag up. "This is broken— _Jason_!"

Her confusion altered to panic.

Jason was one of the bodies stretched across Chiron's back. His arms flopped at awkward angles, like the bones had been removed. Beside him was the limp body of a charred Pax.

Axel couldn't tell if either was breathing.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I might need to go on a hiatus for a few weeks on the main story plot line (sorry!) but if I do, I promise to post some relevant short stories in its place!


	16. Axel: Couldn't I Dream of Flying Clowns?

Sixteen: Axel

Can't I Dream About Flying Clowns Or Something Else That's More Reasonable?

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Disclaimer: This one stays PG. Sounds random, I know, but it has some adult themes. Pax was worried readers would get too excited if I didn't preface with that and then throw a revolt and teepee his tent... is there something meta about teepeeing a tent? Anyway, enjoy the read!

* * *

Both Pax and Jason were still breathing. After Chiron dispersed the crowds from Capture the Flag, they could assess the damage. Jason had two broken wrists, an arm broken in three different places, a contusion on that shoulder, and a concussion. Pax had third degree burns on one hand and second degree burns running up along the same arm and shoulder before fading to first degree burns around his face and chest.

Matt claimed it went as thus: he came over to see Pax-as-Percy and Jason fighting. He went to lend his assistance to Jason—since the son of Zeus clearly needed someone in a mecha suit-and his mecha suit malfunctioned and exploded, the pieces flying out into Jason and electrocuting Pax.[footnote:1]

The proof of Matt's story was there: the suit was in pieces, but Axel could tell that was a lie. Any good healer, like Will or Chiron, attending to Jason's injuries would know they were too systematic. Axel explicitly asked for Kally to heal Pax. He knew she'd be tired from the healing Pax from earlier, but she knew about Pax's expedited healing. He didn't need anyone else learning more oddities about him and his brother.

Axel knew the likelihood of Pax attacking Jason in a fair fight would factor in the negative digits. Pax probably knocked Jason out and made sure the former praetor would have more than a headache when he woke up. Matt must have seen them and went to stop Pax.

That was the only part that confused Axel. While they were waiting near the Big House—Axel still refused to go inside—for word on Jason, he asked Matt, "How did you stop Ajax?"

Matthias—that wonderful, crazy Nord—rubbed his hands together in excitement. He withdrew a chest plate from his mecha suit. "I Pax-proofed it," he explained and handed the piece to Axel.

There was a giant red button on the front that said _Super Secret Button_.

"You press it…" Matt threw his hands out and made a, " _Boom!_ " sound. "Pax had disarmed me, but I figured I'd add some new features… the 'in event of Pax' features."

Considering Matthias was half the reason Pax was a terror at Camp Othrys, Axel should have expected no less.

The door to the Big House swung open. Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. With every sound on the porch, he expected Dionysus to walk out and strike him with some kind of madness-if he got lucky, it would be something simple, like dancing until death.

Instead, Thalia stepped out. Although her face still gleamed with the calm youth of a huntress, her blue eyes blazed with rage. She stormed up to Matt and shoved her face right into his. "Next time, don't design a suit that will attempt team-mate-murder," she snapped.

Axel could feel the air around them tingle with static charge. She hadn't zapped Matt yet but she was one shuffle across a carpet from doing it.

Matt's eyebrows knit and his expression went grave. Although others might think this meant he was angry or shocked, Axel knew the look translated to, _your comment was dumb and you should feel dumb._

"Yea, it was definitely my intention to get the prince of the gods killed and make everyone at camp and the King of the Sky hate me forever, but now that you've said that, I might need to reconsider my options," Matt said.

Thalia's fist balled. Axel frowned. He really didn't want to get electrocuted or fight a daughter of Zeus on Matt's behalf, especially since he liked Thalia and had few qualms with the Huntresses of Artemis. But Matt did just cover for Pax and he had provided them with the Golden Net. Not like this would be his first time he'd almost died for the Nord, though at least this time there would be less rats involved.

"Thalia!" Chiron called from inside. Useful powers of a centaur: knowing when children of Zeus were about to zap.

Axel was about to stand up when Thalia's fist relaxed and she sighed. Axel was surprised she calmed so quickly without further intervention. "Sorry Matt. It's just… been a long…" She paused, like she wasn't sure if it had been a day or a week. She shook her head. "I need to get back to the huntresses. They might have word on that fox."

"Fox?" Axel asked.

Thalia pursed her lips.

At her silence, Axel figured this must have been one of those things he was too gender handicapped to know. Instead, Axel asked, "How is he?" and nodded to the Big House. The dryad wind chimes seemed to emphasize his question with a rustle. Matt kept making that face and Axel was pretty sure Medusa couldn't have made the Nord hold that pose any better.

"Sore, but fine," Thalia said. Her eyes gazed past them, back to the cabins. The huntresses—all looking exhausted and groggy—were assembling for the hunt. Those blue orbs glanced back down to Axel. "How did you learn that headphone trick?"

Axel touched the red headphones around his neck. For a brief moment, he could visualize Flynn's face: the dark hair, fiery eyes, and the scars mutilating her skin—ones far worse than his own. He remembered the calming cheer in her voice as she ordered Roman soldiers to fall onto their own weapons, how she would giggle when they had to try more than once.

He cleared his throat. "I once knew a charm speaker who abused her powers."

Thalia nodded absently. That clearly wasn't the question she cared about. "What you said…" she hesitated. "About…

She didn't need to say Luke's name for Axel to understand.

Before everything went to Hades and before Kronos took over, Axel remembered enjoying the cool summer nights stargazing with Jack, Flynn, and Luke. Alabaster would babysit Pax and Matt, then they'd drive far enough away from Mount Tamapais to see the night sky and assure no one would hear Luke reminiscing over how amazing Thalia and Annabeth were. After meeting them, Axel could understand how Luke fell in love with the girls and how hurt he was when neither understood his cause.

Thalia took a shaky breath. "I need to go check up on the hunt's progress, but I would like to talk to you about it further."

Axel nodded. That would be a fun awkward conversation. _Yea… my brother and I once tried to kill your dad and all of Western civilization. No hard feelings though._

Thalia moved like she wanted to say something else, then changed her mind and walked towards Cabin Eight with little more than a wave.

As Thalia stepped away, Matt relaxed his face. "Glad I could be her stress relief," he snorted. Matt lifted his nose up and dangled one hand in front of him. "Look at me! I'm a Huntress of Artemis and I'm a hypocrite who thinks _all_ men should be treated the same because _some_ men suck." He dropped his hand. "Augh. I'm sure you're _super_ disappointed that the campfire sing-along has been canceled, but do you want to join me in Cabin Nine? We have a special corner you can mope in."

Spending time alone with the son of Hephaestus sounded as appealing as going on a date with an empousa. Before Axel could turn down the offer, Matt stood up. "Yea, yea, you'll want to lurk and be mysterious elsewhere. Well, the offer stands if you change your mind. I need to see if I can salvage the footage from my mecha camera so I have video evidence to mock Pax with for all eternity." Matt chuckled while rubbing his hands together and walked away.

Axel exhaled and fumbled in his jeans pockets. All he found was a packet of gum with a note from Pax that said _I can cause_ _temporomandibular joint disorder and irritable bowel syndrome._

He jammed the gum packet back into his pocket. With Pax unconscious in Cabin Seven, this might be his only chance to have a smoke.

As Axel walked towards the camp's convenience store, he felt someone watching him. Whispers slithered in and out of hearing. _Maybe the flag is just broken-_

 _-when Thalia touched it-_

 _-heard he won't eat ambrosia-_

 _-weird magic against Piper-_

 _-maybe he's a monster_.

Axel shook his head, forcing himself not to make eye contact with any of the campers nearby. With the sing-along canceled, they had free time to roam around and-unfortunately-spread rumors. Axel wondered how long it would be before Chiron or Nico approached him. He thought about dropping by the Hades Cabin to express his gratitude and show Nico what happened to people when they crossed the Pax family.

With people searching for a reason that he might be odd, maintaining his Mist mask became more difficult. He could feel the edges wearing thin around his mouth. Uncle Frasco warned him people might not treat him the same outside the circus if he walked openly. Santiago used Axel's features to garner fear and respect. Jack used them as a terrifying mascot for The Triple As. But this was something new though. The unfamiliar twinge made Axel's stomach clench: shame.

Fortunately, the convenience store was open and someone was inside. Axel hadn't thought about how late it was, but this was a reasonable hour for it to be closed as the camp was winding down for sleep. When Axel recognized that person as Connor Stoll, he realized the store _was_ closed. His picklocks still hung in the doorknob.

The son of Hermes stood between the army-style backpacks and bright orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirts, stuffing stuffed animal centaurs into his shirt.

Axel cleared his throat.

Connor jumped. He withdrew a souvenir toy dagger from the wall display and aimed it at Axel. Before all his incidents with the frying pan, Axel might have found that amusing. Now, he just sighed.

Connor didn't relax when he saw Axel. Instead, he tensed more. "You here to kill the fun?" as he spoke, Connor stuffed another two centaurs into his shirt. With the pressure from all the other ones, they not-so-stealthily squeaked. Axel was pretty sure-if he poked Connor with a pin-the boy would explode stuffing and equestrian bits.

From the way Connor leaned his body, he was ready to dash out the door.

Axel glanced around and stepped inside. The store was small-only one room and mostly had basic school supplies and promotional items. Maybe part timers bought the toys for their mortal siblings and pretended pictures from the camp were photoshopped. He frowned at the thought.

"Do they sell cigarettes here?" Axel asked, ignoring Connor's agitation.

As though Connor's eyes weren't fixated on Axel, his hands continued to swipe merchandise with expert speed. "This is a camp for _children_ ," he said.

Axel narrowed his gaze. "Do _you_ sell cigarettes?"

"I only smuggle Pepsi and Coke, thank you. And Pax said he'd do some… pretty mean things if Travis or I ever smuggled for you-wait-I don't need this for the prank-" Connor broke eye contact to look at the orange pompoms he'd pulled from a shelf. He shrugged and stuffed them in his back pocket.

Knowing Pax, he'd have thought out every way Axel might have access to cigarettes other than leaving camp. Axel felt his hands riffling through his pockets reflexively. He needed something. "Hey, toss me one of those stuffed animal centaurs and I won't warn Katie Gardener that you're going to prank her cabin tonight."

Connor tossed it and Axel snatched the stuffed animal with one hand. The centaur had a tiny shirt that read _Hero-In-Training._ He had to wonder who manufactured these things. Was that where adult demigods went to work when they graduated Camp Half-Blood? Axel withdrew a few drachmas from his pocket to place on the counter and-after a moment of considering Connor-he layered them with some Mist.

Axel did quick checks on Cabin Seven then Cabin Four. Pax was happily healed and passed out on Kally's futon. Kally must have fallen asleep from over-exertion because she was beside him, also unconscious. Will grumbled when Axel suggested they leave Pax there for the night. "Isn't that the standard procedure when you're worried about a patient? I heard you've done that for Nico," Axel said innocently.

Will frowned in annoyance, but agreed.

Pax would thank Axel later.

After checking up on Euna to make sure she wasn't a pig anymore and to compliment her on her pigleticism, Axel walked back to the Pax mobile. He found Lucius the donkey munching happily on some bolts and nuts. Axel winced to think about what someone had to do to be put on duty for shoveling automaton waste. That stuff must smell terrible and be heavy… Maybe he should get Lucius further away from his van.

Axel checked the inside to make sure no one broke anything and no weapons were out of place. The weasels darted out to greet him but quickly dashed out of the van, probably wondering where Pax was. Axel took out his Phobetor sleeping bag and-after a moment of hesitation-Pax's Phantasos sleeping bag. More likely than not, Pax would sneak out of camp once he woke and realized Axel wasn't in the Hermes cabin. Axel tucked the stuffed animal centaur into the sleeping bag so Pax had a little surprise for later.

Once he put his frying pan, headphones, and jeans in the corner, he withdrew the coals they stole from Hestia's fire. When all the chaos happened between the Giants and the Olympians, they snuck in and grabbed the most dangerous part of Axel's plan with little resistance. As Axel sat down on his bedroll, he absently juggled the coals. They never fully cooled but tingled his fingers with each toss.

This was the last part of his plan and the only part he didn't know how to accomplish. Everything else had fallen into place so nicely. But how to find-

* * *

Axel didn't realize he'd collapsed until he opened his eyes. He felt the musical vibrations before he saw the streamers and balloons decorating the ceiling of a warehouse. He was on a rentable dance floor with hordes of people frolicking. Someone leaned over him.

Axel remembered this. He was at the welcome home party that Santiago threw after Pax and he did something they swore they never would do: they crawled back home. They were injured, numbed from watching so many friends die, and exhausted from the relentlessly hounding of the Romans. There was nowhere else to go. Everyone was dead or missing and the Romans seemed to know exactly where they would run. There must have been a spy at Camp Othrys before everything fell apart. On top of losing everyone, they'd also been betrayed.

Above him, a beautiful girl smiled. She reached a delicate hand down to help him up. Axel's stomach made a good attempt at ripping through his skin-alien style. Axel could dance himself to forgetfulness but not when he knew why she was here. Half-way through the night, he'd heard Kouta laugh to a friend, _"-approve of them if he knew they were paid?"_

Some of them weren't, Axel knew. Instead, they were the sons and daughters of Santiago's business associates intimidated into a play date with the Pax boys. Axel could tell the difference by the authenticity of their smiles.

Everything about the welcome home was like that. As though Santiago wanted to seem different, but he'd just tried to cover his sadism with a smilie face Band-Aid.

This girl was confident and excited, like she actually wanted to dance with him exterior to money or politics. She wore a pink, floral dress with a slit that snaked far enough up her thigh to make Axel glance away. When she dragged him to his feet, he didn't resist, though was surprised by her strength and command. She looked so fragile, like she needed a miniature, personal Argus to escort her everywhere.

Then he smelled the reek of roses and saw her features shifted with the beat of the music.

"Oh," he sighed. "It's you."

Currently, her hair was dark and long, though it reddened with each moment. Her coral lips formed a pout, one that made Axel wish he could fix all her problems.

Until he reminded himself how much he hated Aphrodite and how he'd rather cut her head off than exchange a simple, _How do you do?_

"You know Axel, when most men see me, they get tongue-tied and throw away their fortunes just so I glance their way," she chided. Aphrodite raised one hand to check the ringlets curling along her right shoulder. As per usual, she assured there were mirrors hanging all around the dream, ones that hadn't existed in his original memories. The worst was when she'd dragged him onto a beach in Belize and had their coconut drinks served on reflective surfaces. Caribbean sun+mirrors=blinding stupidity.

"If I threw my fortunes at you, would you leave me alone?" he asked. Axel checked his pockets to see if he had coins. Empty other than a fancy cigar Santiago gifted him before the party. Definitely not heavy enough to knock a goddess unconscious.

"Oh Axel," she giggled as if he was joking. It made Axel wish he had a brick of gold since that would be heavy enough to kill her. Aphrodite swayed to the electrojazz pumping around the warehouse and Axel was disgusted to feel his body mimic her undulations. She drew his hands around her waist. The material of the dress felt pleasant as his pinkies brushed her hips.

With her face so close, Axel felt his eyelids grow heavy and his breath slowed. _No_ , he commanded himself. _I am Kronos's Monster of the Labyrinth, a son of Pax. I will_ _ **not**_ _bend to your will_. He focused on his meditative counting and remembered his last encounter with Reyna-their backs occasionally touching as they fought off the children of Ares. After he dropped his smoke bomb, he'd briefly clasped her arm so they could roll under the SUVs. When she'd whispered her strategy, he could feel her breath on his ear and relished the simple brilliance of her plan. By then, he knew the Ares's children weren't trying to kill them, but before he had thought, _if I must die, no better way to do it than in battle beside such a phenomenal warrior._

"Stop that," Aphrodite snapped. Her words cut through his calm, but Axel had already gathered himself. He could look her in the eye without wavering. "Don't make me send you back to your nightmare," she threatened.

He shuddered at the thought. As much as Axel wanted to boast that the nightmare-prediction would be preferable, that was a lie worse than any Athenian politician might preach.

"What do you want this time?" he asked. He was pretty sure Pax had a star sticker that said _Olympia's Most Annoying Goddess_.Could he conjure that into his dream?

"Oh pity," she sighed, adjusting a locket around her neck. _Always moving, always shifting,_ Axel thought. _Trying to distract us from how insubstantial she is._ She continued, "Flint-hearted boy. Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy?" One of her hands traced the scars along his temple. Axel clenched his jaw. Her skin felt so soft-along his face, along the small of his back, where her other fingers danced across his shirt end. "I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now, even by the stern and direful god of war… and you still need to make up for the time I lost with him on your behalf." [footnote:2]

Axel sighed. There was no reasoning with her. He remembered his attempts last time:

" _Uh, I think being cursed by you and Ares was enough punishment."_

" _I could rescind those curses."_

Axel had seriously considered it for Pax's sake. Maybe Pax could have a successful romance with Kally, despite his mother and Aphrodite's plans… but Axel's pride burned with hatred at the thought of touching the goddess willingly.

As Axel desperately attemptednot to get more involved in the dance and failed, he thought about Merry's assessment of the _Traitor's Prophecy_ and realized-if Aphrodite was going to make him play this game-he might as well make use of it.

"'Trials of Psyche lead by love,'" Axel quoted Rachel. "Why are you sending us on the Trials of Psyche? These quests seem frivolous-even for you."

Aphrodite's eyes glanced back at him. She'd probably been watching a mirror. It seemed like the crowds of other laughing dancers would part at just the right moment so he could see their shifting reflection. The sight made him nauseous. Alabaster had once read something where Hell was being stuck with two other people you hated and not being able to leave. Maybe Axel had died in his sleep and this was how Zeus chose to punish him for eternity. Some people got giant boulders. Some people got vultures. He got an insistent, divine fan girl.

"Hm? Oh-do you mean whatever happened in Hemera's kitchen that made her mad at Eos for the rest of the party-well- _madder_ than usual?" Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "If Hemera would just cheat on her husband, she'd be so much happier and get along with Eos _so_ much better. Anyway, I would never start such a petty fight."

Axel stared at her skeptically.

She pouted. "Fights over love are never petty."

"Eleos kill me now," Axel grumbled. [footnote: 3]

The music changed tempos to something too slow for this style of party. Over Aphrodite's shoulder, Axel could see a boy with brilliant green eyes approach Pax for a dance. Despite knowing this was a dream and a memory, Axel wanted to tell the boy not to bother asking Pax. All the Pax boys were taught to forget death and grief through dance and fighting. At first, Frasco did it to release their stress and teach them their powers. Santiago did it as a public facade. But this was different. So many had died and they didn't have word from Kronos's forces in Manhattan yet. Pax wouldn't want to dance, or move, or eat, for weeks.

At the time, Axel was worried something else had happened while he was preparing the monsters and demigods for battle against the Romans. Since the battle, Pax seemed so preoccupied, quiet, and skittish. Though Axel supposed that's how Pax reacted after Frasco died too. It just seemed worse after Camp Othrys fell.

"There are other types of love than romantic." Aphrodite's voice startled him. He looked back at her. "The love one feels for a child. The love one feels for a pet." She went to stroke his ear.

 _That's it_. He didn't care if she sent him back to his nightmare. He didn't care if she cursed him again. He was no one's pet.

Axel went to break her finger.

Rose petals swirled around them. A mist thickened through the music until the dancers and the warehouse were nothing but dim silhouettes.

His knees felt weak and he became pleasantly lightheaded. _No, no, no, no, no!_ Some distant voice shrieked as he leaned forward to nip Aphrodite's shoulder. _Just a taste_.

"Axel," she cooed. "It's a kiss I beg…"

Axel drearily raised his head, inhaling her perfume.

 _ **Rip her heart out**_ **!**

The scream of the Leonis Caput snapped him back to mental awareness.

 _I'm TRYING_ , he inwardly whined, but he knew he was losing this fight. He tried to remember the slurs he'd built up for Aphrodite: _perversion of love, chameleon-so unsure of what you are that you_ _ **become**_ _whatever men would want, creating nothing more than a pretty hollow shell. If beauty and love have become commodities and she reflected the culture, then what did that make her?_

He tried to growl but it came out a purr. "You're cheating love if you need to win me this way," he floundered desperately. _Stupid_ love magic.

Aphrodite sighed, but her sigh quickly sharpened to a gasp. The dream began to evaporate, the silhouettes blurring to blobs. She released Axel so she could stomp her foot. "No! He's always ruining my fun! And what right does he have?!" Aphrodite demanded.

Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. He didn't particularly care to whom she was referring-he was just happy she'd stopped using her magic.

Aphrodite gave one last stomp. She turned to where a mirror had previously been to fix her hair-pretentiously perfect as usual-and huffed when it was gone. "Fine!" she snapped. "You can have this one!" she shouted at the nonexistence around them. Her gaze locked on Axel like this was his fault. "Survive this encounter so I can properly seduce you," Aphrodite demanded.

That was the last reason Axel would survive any encounter, behind surviving so he could out drink Dionysus. [footnote: 4]

"Survive what?" Axel managed.

* * *

Then he was comfortably back in his van. This also brought him to an arena with which he was much more familiar, involving more near-death experience and less dating ones. Someone had him by the throat and had slammed him against the back of the passenger seat.

This was real. And Axel couldn't breathe.

Axel jammed his fingers into the man's tendons but the grip on his neck stayed strong. The man's forearm was thicker than Axel's throat, covered in burns and scars, oil and grease. While Axel still had enough breath to think, he slammed his elbow into every weak spot-

"Axel!"

To Axel's horror, he could hear his little brother shout and a string of swears in Kriol and Spanish. Pax must have snuck in while Axel was sleeping as he suspected.

Axel winced when he managed to look up. The man holding him was huge, the mass of his body leaving no maneuverable space inside the van. Smoke inhibited more than a glance at his bulging face. His other hand had Pax by the arm. There were already several darts lodged into the burned skin.

"-you'd be Narcissus's perfect _opposite!_ " Pax cried.

"Tell me something my mom hasn't already said," the man grunted. He shifted and the van's door opened with a _clang._

Pax's voice changed to a calming one and Axel had a feeling Pax was about to make things way worse, "Did your mom ever tell you that beauty came from the inside and that you're a fluttery butterfl-"

"Nope. Now beat it. I need to have a man-to-god talk with your brother," he grunted and pitched Pax two dozen feet away from the van. If there was a discus throw with humans as the discus, this guy would probably win.

The doors slammed shut. In seconds and with a single empty hand, the god had crafted a locking mechanism to prevent Pax from coming back that way, assuming Pax hadn't broken any bones on impact and _could_ come back.

Then the god turned his glowering gaze back to Axel, wriggling the fingers around Axel's neck. "So you're the one my wife has been sneaking off to see," Hephaestus growled.

* * *

Footnotes:

1 Proving to campers everywhere that—with Leo's disappearance—the curse of the Hephaestus cabin has struck again!

2 Quotes from Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, but she adds her own commentary at the end.

3 Goddess of Mercy who Jack never lets Axel meet.

4 Though Axel was smug to realize that was quite possible with Dionysus's current dilemma.

* * *

Sorry this is late guys! On top of falling behind anyway, our dog got attacked by a pit bull and a boxer and I've been scrambling all weekend to make sure he's okay. Hope you enjoy regardless of the timing!


	17. Ajax: Are Coincidences Born When

Seventeen: Ajax

Are Coincidences Born When the Fates Roll a D20 and Just Wait?

If Pax were a superhero in his own comic book series, he'd consider reimbursing the artists for their time; after all, he would have been better off face-planting into the page's panel than recounting his attempt to save his brother.

Although Pax had attempted a graceful landing, Hephaestus threw him so hard that—after several rolls—he wondered how anyone ever thought the world was flat when it spun so much. Had that tree not been nice and smacked him in the face, he'd have probably kept going and eventually rounded back to hit the other side of the van.

Pax stumbled to his feet and sprinted to the van's back doors. They didn't budge. Matthias was right-you always needed to sleep with dynamite for special occasions like this. As Pax had none—really, all he had was his boxers—he skidded to the other side of the van, going for the driver door.

Flames erupted around the front. Pax could hear the glass in the windows crack. If Axel survived this, Pax was sure his brother would be billing the god of fire and forge for breaking his van and—knowing Hephaestus—he'd find that reasonable. From what Pax could see, the flames weren't spreading to the car itself, but dancing about the doors and the front window.

Pax knew he wouldn't make it through. The children of Santiago didn't do great with fire, even despite his healing factor.

Rustling erupted from the woods. Pax cried out in happiness to see Hunnie and Baller. The two weasels scampered up his legs—their tiny claws gripping into his skin—and clung onto his boxers, seeming confused at his lack of jacket.

"Hunnie!" Pax grabbed her and lifted her in one hand. Hunnie squirmed towards the van, knowing their home was threatened. "Protect Axel!" he commanded and threw the weasel towards the blurred paint of _Extraction Team_ on the side.

In mid-air, Hunnie expanded to her true Mist form. The small patch of spots on her back-her jaguar spots as Pax and Axel liked to tease—spread as Hunnie grew to the full length of the van. She twisted in a small war dance before—claws and fangs first—she disappeared through the metal.

The entire van lurched to the side under the weight of Hunnie's charge.

Inside the van, there was a jump, a hiss, and then silence.

Pax felt his eyes water. "Hunnie? Axel!"

Baller went to jump at the van, but Pax grabbed him. They needed reinforcements. Pax was exhausted from the quest and Capture the Flag and was only equipped with his boxers and a weasel. _Who do I know that's stronger than Axel?_ Or, in other words for Pax, who is more awesome than the Alpha awesome?

"We'll get Hunnie," Pax promised Baller. Then he took off, struggling weasel in arms, towards the camp. Jason was unconscious and badly hurt-not that he'd ever want to ask Jason for help. But Pax needed to keep Chiron and Dionysus as far away from their van as possible. Even if they saved Axel, they might kill him right afterwards if they saw the contents inside. Neither Percy nor Annabeth were around. Would Piper be able to talk Hephaestus down?

Pax's breath increased to a pant. He didn't know where he was going, but his feet dashed through the sand of the volleyball court. _Nico_ , he realized, _Sexy Goth Prince can probably help_. But stop a god? Pax wasn't sure.

He could see the horseshoe of cabins before he heard a small voice whisper inside his head:

 _He'll probably survive. I mean, Hermes, Ares, and Poseidon are all still_ — _haha—alive and banging. And they offended Hephaestus in the same way. A bit uncreative if you ask me, but a sensible fallback for some family fun._

Pax stumbled and would have run over the small creature talking to him had he not tripped and rolled to a stop. Baller dove off his shoulder and scampered into the grass. That voice. Pax recognized that voice.

When he surveyed the grass around him, he found an odd congregation of animal parts, kinda like the pieces in an exotic butcher's shop grew sentient, had a party, and wanted to look weird enough to make the shoppers go, _you know what? Vegetarianism sounds fantastic_. The body was serpentine with the head of a goat. A single stag antler and a unicorn horn sprouted from either side of the forehead, overtop two red eyes. Each of the legs belonged to a different animal: one avian, one reptilian, one equestrian, and one feline. It had a batwing budding out one side of its back and a bird's wing on the other. It was about the size of a chicken with brown fur. A cute little reptilian tail flicked above the creature's two horns like an angler fish's light. It was adorable in an abomination-against-nature kind of way: Pax's favorite way.

Pax's heart jumped with a mix of dread and delight. "M-Mom!" he cried, not sure he could explain how he knew or ever _wanted_ to explain how he knew that this creature was his mother.

She scuttled forward and hopped into his lap, the reptilian tail tipping down to poke his knee in greeting.

After seeing her as a jar on a date with his dad, Pax had to mutter, "You know, this isn't even that weird. But—" He tried to force his ADHD off. "—wait—but—what you said—Hermes, Ares and Poseidon—those are all _gods_. Hephaestus can actually _kill_ Axel."

Sometimes his mom forgot stuff like that. But what could you expect? Gods and Titans often forgot petty details like mortality.

The creature arched its shoulder blades to a point that looked dislocating. _Some mortals live through it too._ _Tristan McLean is still alive and without Hephaestus's wrath for now. Though he did get tortured by that Giant_. _That's probably unrelated._

Pax had no idea who that was or how that person related to his brother. McLean? As in Piper's dad and Aphrodite's—oh.

The creature shuffled from foot to foot with a giggle. _Did I ever tell you that I convinced Tristan that Aphrodite left him for a richer man? Why do you think he strove so hard to become such an exceptional actor? He thought he'd win her back-and he's still waiting! Waiting for_ _ACT two: the heartache._

Pax puffed up his cheeks. He wasn't sure if his mom was going to help him and-if she wasn't-he was wasting valuable dramatic-rescue-time. Before he could pop his cheeks, his mother jumped and bumped into one cheek so he had to exhale. "Mom. Axel," he reminded.

The creature curled onto its back, feet in the air, so it could bat at its tail. _I wouldn't have led Hephaestus to Axel if I didn't think he had at least a 35% chance of survival._

"You _led_ him here!" Pax cried.

 _You just need a little bit of help from Hephaestus and you'll be ready to go on your quest to kill and usurp your father. Or fulfill the destiny your father has set out for you. I can't keep track of these things._ She batted a paw like she was brushing aside a comment.

Pax shook his head. "N-No. We're trying to jail Dad—"

 _Oh! That's what Axel is calling it. Huh, it's odd your brother wants an unbreakable weapon to 'jail' your father-Oh! Can you imagine if your father succeeded and became my immortal concubine?_ The creature hugged its four paw-hoof-claws together in childlike wonder. _We could have such a happy family! Eternally tormenting humanity-er-until Zeus gets bored and drowns all of them_.

The creature pressed a paw against either side of its face and rocked back and forth. For a disturbing moment, Pax could visualize his mother as a little school girl, giddy about being asked to her first date or, in his mother's case, first armed robbery.

When Pax was little, he always assumed his mother meant 'prank' and 'tease' when using the word torment. Was it possible, when he was little, he was also a little... naive?

Pax tried to get up. He needed to grab Nico, throw a white sheet over the Ghost King and have him scare Hephaestus off. But the tiny creature on him suddenly felt several hundred pounds heavier.

She clacked two talons together and a postcard popped into Pax's lap. _Look at the little gift that ended up on Hephaestus's desk. I think it might tip off the current Sevens' final quest._

The unmistakable beauty of Aphrodite and the gruff girth of Ares were pictured on the front. Even when photographed, Aphrodite's features seemed to blur. They were on the shores of a beach. Pax dodged around his mother to pick up the card and flip it over. On the other side, something was written in huge, violent scrawl, like this pen had given its all to make the postcard into confetti.

His mother's weight reduced back to that of a feather. She clawed up Pax's side to perch on his shoulder and read to him, " _You're losing your touch, Ugly. It's not even fun to say anymore, but 'Na-na-na-na-na! You can't catch us!' All my hatred, Ares."_

"Is Ares even literate?" Pax asked. Normally, that might have felt a little hypocritical. But this was Ares and Pax loved feeling hypocritical.

 _We wrote something in blood once after the battle of-well, it doesn't matter in relation to this letter. It's not like Ares wrote it. But Hephaestus found it on top of his work desk with some junk mail about vermin traps._ She clacked her nails together evilly. _And what better way to anger someone than junk mail. Diabolical, eh?_

Pax figured he'd be more upset if someone he liked cheating on him with a relative, like Aphrodite was doing to Hephaestus. He thought about Axel and Kally and felt sick. Then again, he'd never had to sort through junk mail. That had been Kouta's job and Kouta did say that his first trial on the road through Xibalba would be sorting mail. Maybe sorting mail _was_ worse.

"If you gave Hephaestus mail from Ares and Aphrodite, why is Hephaestus attacking Axel?" Pax asked, confused.

 _Maybe he's not here to attack him. I told you Axel has a high survival chance._

Pax pouted. "You said 35%... okay, that's high with you." Pax tried to think of some way to keep having this conversation with his mother—she had a tendency to kill people when she was interrupted—and get back to camp.

 _If I was the type to make plans, then this would be part of one._

"Your plans involve a lot of almost dying. I mean, Python tried to kill us when we went to save Rachel." Normally, Pax wouldn't want to complain, but it wasn't like his mother had just mixed up his and Axel's lunch boxes or whatever normal moms did. Though that might have been even less acceptable as he would miss his daily ration of Reese's Sticks.

 _Python does tend to get like that around children of the sun god,_ she agreed absently. His mom started to groom pieces of dirt out of his hair from his earlier roll.

Now wasn't the time to talk about this stuff, but Pax didn't know if he'd have another chance and it looked like his mother wasn't going to let him rush off to be a valiant hero.

Uncertainly, he said, "And you told Dad about the Golden Net and the coals… and something about Axel going crazy…" Pax's voice quieted with each comment. He hated contradicting her. Not that he did often, but he knew what happened when he contradicted his father. For disciplining Pax, Santiago learned early on that it was more effective to beat Axel in front of Pax than Pax himself.

 _Would I have shown you that if I didn't want a Pax boy to succeed?_ she asked.

Technically, Santiago was also a Pax boy, so that could go either way. Pax puffed up his cheeks and his mother-yet again-beat him to popping them. Interacting with his mom required a lot of concentration. Pax wondered if this is how people felt talking to him. Alabaster had once described their discussions as intellectually stimulating, the way catching rats with a fishing pole might feel.

She seemed to sense his hesitation, her goat ears twitching. _Ajax, your father and I love you very much. We'll be sure to lead you to victory and stuff. We can get into the semantics of whose victory later. Now, I heard you had a major assist in taking out Python._ She sounded like she wanted to cheer him up.

Pax frowned, thinking about how he'd used his godly powers to manipulate Kally and make her feel terrible. Had he not done so and forced her into a solar blast, Python might have killed them, but he still felt like the biggest tool since Jason Grace first graced the Earth. "I don't think Kally appreciated it very much."

 _Oh my little terror muffin, you're like me-a misunderstood artist, born into the wrong time._ She patted his head with a hoof, then she shakily glided back into his lap. _Don't worry. Soon, I'm going to make sure we're the ones who seem normal,_ she said while folding her bat and bird wings behind her goat head. Those red eyes narrowed to gaze up at the night's sky. _Soon we'll be the ones inviting everyone_ else _to_ our _party. Your momma and her friends will make sure of it._ She snapped her attention back to Pax. _Now-are you still ticklish here?_

She was faster than Hunnie and Baller ever could be. The creature dashed at Pax's exposed stomach and prodded him.

Pax fell backwards, forcing a laugh. He wasn't ticklish anywhere, but he loved being touched and poked. When he turned twelve, his mother showed up and they started this game. It was right when she promised to get Pax away from Santiago, because she understood no child of hers would ever want to be bottled up.

 _Oh, my little godling_ , she teased, prancing up to sit on his face.

"Mom," he complained. "I'm not a godling." Some people had to argue with their parents about becoming a doctor. He had to argue about becoming a godling. Talk about permanent career choices.

 _But you'll be a great godling one day. You're more god than human-and don't forget how hard your father worked to assure that._ Her tone took on a mocking quality. It was something both she and Pax thought ridiculous about Santiago.

Pax's smile became more genuine. "I don't want to be a godling, but I do want to be whatever you are. You look awesome!"

 _Do you like it?_ She fluttered to the ground beside him so she could ruffle out her feathers and flick about her lizard tail. _It's one of the most modern incarnations of my essence from some of my unbeknownst worshipers_ —[footnote 1]

Someone else, with a much shriller voice, interrupted her. "Pax—aren't you supposed to be—ew! What weird thing _is_ that? And why aren't you wearing a shirt?!"

The call came from the direction of the cabins. Pax couldn't believe he'd been so distracted that he didn't see or hear the figures creep up. There were two of them, clad in black from head to toe, and standing in defensive positions two feet away from him. The dim green torchlight from Hecate's nearby cabin wasn't enough to see them fully, but that voice was definitely Joey's.

Pax hoped it was too dark for Joey to see the creature beside him clearly. He sat up. His mom tilted her head and innocently said, _Meow?_ In the least convincing imitation of a cat that he'd seen since Mrs. O'Leary perched on top of Cabin Three to "sneak up" on Percy. That roof had needed some serious repairs.

Then his mom poofed out of existence.

Pax blinked. "What weird thing?" he asked. His mom really wasn't that weird to him, so Joey could have meant anything. "And what are you doing out after curfew dressed as ninjas?"

"That's racist—we do not look like ninjas," Joey snapped.

The taller figure beside Joey was probably scolding from the way it turned to her. "The entire cabin is dressed in black and creeping around." Presumably Euna turned back to Pax. "Joey was a brat to Katie, so she sent us to scout out the weird noises over here to make sure—"

"Shut up," Joey hissed. "He's the enemy."

"He's in his boxers talking to some kind of mythological flying goat," Euna said. "I don't think he's spying for the Stolls."

Joey snorted.

Pax looked past the Song sisters to see the rest of the cabins. Cabin Eleven was gone. Well, not gone, it just looked like what would happen if Santa Clause let Poison Ivy wrap all his presents for Christmas. Hopefully with less poison. There were vines encasing the entire structure. Although Pax wasn't quite sure with the lack of lighting, he thought he saw other figures in black darting around the perimeter, making flowers sprout out of the vines like evil flower terrorists. He was about to ask if everyone inside could still breath, but felt like that might be a dumb question.

"No I'm—" Pax bolted to his feet. "Axel! We need to save Axel—and Hunnie—and probably Baller now!"

Both stared at him in confusion.

"Was he attacked by pigeons?" Euna asked, dead serious.

"No—why pigeons—" Pax shook his head, trying to focus. "—no—Hephaes—come on!" He grabbed their wrists and tugged.

But both stayed put, like they were—haha— _rooted_ to the ground. Joey and Euna exchanged a glance. Euna looked back over to the other fruit ninjas now growing peach trees in front of where Pax assumed the windows and doors would be.

Joey rolled her eyes. "Either this will be a prank and take two seconds or it'll be another quest and that'll make me like 3 and 0 with Katie Goode. That counsellorship will be as _good_ as mine."

Pax wished he had his pallet of _Punniest Fun_ stickers to award Joey's attempt, but they were probably in the van with his hopefully not-so-corpsy brother.

When Joey clasped Pax's wrist back and stepped towards the volleyball courts, Pax considered some of the flaw in his logic. He was bringing two grass types to a brawl with a fire god. If Pokemon had taught him anything, he would need more variety.

Euna hesitated, like she sensed the flaw of his Pokelogic. "Another quest…" She unwrapped the mask around her face—actually a dinner napkin—and frowned at Joey. Pax felt Joey's fingers tighten around his wrist and wanted to remind her that his wrist was not—in fact—a conduit for hurting others around him, though her attempt was an admiral furthering of science.

Euna exhaled. She stepped forward with them. "That'll make _us_ 3 and 0 to Katie Goode."

Joey stared, smiled, then quickly scowled. "You're too lazy to want to be counselor—

"This is cute and everything, but my brother could be the base model for Hephaestus's next automoton already. I'll explain when we get there." Pax wasn't going to explain when they got to the van, but he never specified where "there" was so it was okay in his book. He just needed to get them moving faster. Despite what his mother said… _especially_ with what his mother said, he wanted to make sure Axel wasn't going to be scrap metal for Lucius's next meal. Pax tugged them into a run. Joey didn't let go of his arm and he found himself happy for the comfort.

As their feet dashed across the sand of the volleyball court, Pax heard someone speak. At first, he wondered if his mother was going to descend upon them as Sharktopus with a Boombox of Death, but the voice was too solid and a half-shark, half-octopus monster didn't seem nearly awesome enough for his mother.

These two were dimly silhouetted by the distant light of the Big House; they must have recently left. They were so bad at sneaking around, they were standing up straight and had a flashlight. And they were playing music, presumably from a smuggled phone in one of their pockets. Hermes might spit upon them for such a sneakless transgression, but Pax had definitely seen the Stoll brothers accidentally trigger some bottle rockets in their pockets while creeping. Pax got to see some Hermes familial embarrassment and a panicky Stoll dance show.

The music was subtle, a man's voice cheerfully singing, " _Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down_." At first, Pax was confused by the composer's choice of weeping in the background. But Pax could appreciate a creator's irony, like how someone as smart as Athena came from Zeus's head.

Pax considered leading Euna and Joey around these two until he realized the sound wasn't part of the music and the girl mumble-weeping was someone he knew. Still a little ironic based off her normally sanguine personality, but not in a kicks-and-giggle way.

"A-A—and he's-s just being a n-narcissistic, manipulative, a-abusi—"

Merry hiccuped into silence and stopped walking. Her companion—who could only be Calex by his height—stood beside her. From the way his flashlight's spotlight trembled on the ground, his fists must have been shaking. Although Pax could tell this was something serious, Pax hoped—if Calex squeezed it hard enough—a miniature starship would warp hole through the light and make an emergency landing in the dirt, cheering everyone up and giving them free futuristic candy.

"I don't know how to keep him a-away from Nikhil," Merry mumbled. "I don't want Dad to kill him, but mom's going to lose this court case and the only other option would be foster care. I'm-I'm not ready to take care of Nik—and-nd—I'm s-s-scared of s-standing up to him in c-court—"

Calex hesitated, then reached a hand out towards her.

Merry flinched. Calex recoiled and earned Pax's award for worst executed counseling of the year.

"S-s-sorr—" she said and released a nervous laugh-sob. "I'm a right mess if I'm getting the jitterbugs around a sweet teddy like you."

"Hey, it's alright," Calex assured. "And it's gonna be alright. You have photos of your and Nikhil's injuries. You'll be able to stand up to your dad. You're stronger than you think and Kally and I will be there for you the whole way. He's… he's _never_ going to touch you again." Pax could hear how Calex struggled to keep his voice even.

Merry nodded, unable to verbally respond. She leaned her forehead into Calex's shoulder. "You can do that thing with those beefy biceps now," she mumbled after a moment.

When Calex hugged her, the music from her jacket muffled, so Pax could barely hear the "— _Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye_ —" playing.

This was definitely getting recorded in the _Top List of Awkward Ways to Feel like a Jerk When You've Technically Done Nothing Wrong._

Step One: Walk into an intimate conversation that you have absolutely no right to hear.

Step Two: Freeze because you realize you're intruding

Step Three: Repeat Step Two with the new knowledge that it's too late to walk forward like you haven't heard anything but you can't retreat because you'd probably make noise.

Joey had paused at the same time as Pax. Euna must not have noticed, because Joey's hand was thrust in her sister's path.

They should handle this delicately.

Pax threw an arm around either of the girl's shoulders, miffed to realize Euna was taller than him. He walked them forward and hailed, "How pleasant to run into you on this midnight… naked… ninja… stroll." Upon looking at their current garb, he figured he had a lot to work with for excuses.

Calex flashed the light in their direction. Pax hissed and ducked behind Joey. "Hey!" she cried.

Calex sighed. He unwrapped one arm from around Merry to turn towards them. "I don't even care what you're doing Pax," he said. "But how did he convince you two to do something? That dodgy prick isn't blackmailing you, is he?"

"No, we're supposedly saving Axel. Wanna come?" Euna offered like they'd run into them at the mall.

"Whose bones are probably being ground to make a sword right now, but we can take our time and be generous to Hephaestus. A few more stops might give him enough time to polish Axel off," Pax reasoned. He couldn't believe how sidetracked he'd let himself get. Some part of him really did believe his mother about Axel being okay. The part with more brain cells urged him to check on Axel, even if to size him for a coffin suit.

"Sounds groovy," Merry cheered. She sniffled and frantically rubbed her face against her jacket sleeve. The music fluctuated with each motion and Pax registered that her jacket wasn't the shade of her normal one she usually wore.

Merry detached from Calex and walked towards Thalia's tree. "Sounds all juicy to get my mind off a… late night call. Dad didn't want me walking home on my lonesome so he hired me a bodyguard—" she tapped Calex's chest, "and look! He also gave me some new armor!" She pressed something on her sleeve and the song switched from to " _Never gonna tell a lie"_ to " _Do you believe in magic? In a young girl's heart!"_

The music was coming _from_ her jacket.

"It knows all the best party music from the last few thousand years, though obviously it'll play a bit more jazz and a bit less waltz," she cheered, the tremor in her voice almost gone.

Pax let out a tiny yelp of excitement. Had he not just promised himself _no more distractions_ , he'd demand a dance number on the spot. But, he thought in his best Axel impression, _no more distractions._

"Come on guys! First person to the van I'll leave alone for a week!" Pax encouraged, jogging a few paces forward.

"You're serious?" Calex asked, head perking up.

"This girl ain't running," Merry said. "You all athletic types can give your legs a nice shake if you want."

It seemed to physically pain Calex, but he shook his head. "I got enough of that during Capture the Flag."

Pax thought about insulting the Arsenal football team until Calex chased after him. Antagonizing would work on Calex or Joey and get at least one of them to the van faster. Why was no one taking this seriously though? He knew he was great comic relief and cuter than a yawning hedgehog, but normally—when he cried wolf—there was at least a 70% chance of someone listening… though maybe 60% of that was Axel.

A chill interrupted the thought.

Wasn't this a convenient stream of conveniences? Had Pax's mother planned this? If she hadn't distracted him, he would have missed Euna and Joey in his run to Nico's cabin. Had he run into them at all, the time frame in which they could awkward past Calex and Merry would have been minimal. And what luck that Cabin Four probably had all the patrol harpies in the center of camp?

As they walked, Pax couldn't shake a sense of heebie jeebies.

With all the other conveniences, he was about as surprised to see Kally in Calex's flashlight beam as he would be to find Ronald McDonald in a closet at night: not at all.

From the quick flash of light, Pax could tell it was her. She was fully dressed, sweatshirt included, and messenger bag slung over her shoulder like she was waiting for them to skip along the yellow brick road.

Joey noticed her next and muttered a wary, "This is weird."

They were almost to the van, but Pax felt himself break his promise. If something screamed _it's a trap_ , it was seeing the person you like that's terrified of the dark ambling in the dark without purpose. Kally's gait was uncertain and she had her hair down.

Once they got closer, Pax could hear her mumbling:

" _The forge ambushed in the lion's maw._

 _Not to flame or plea will force withdraw."_

Kally shook her head lazily and muttered, "But you said that's just the first domino. Maybe we can stop the next…"

"She's sleeping," Merry observed. When they caught up and Calex flashed the light near Kally, Pax could see her eyes were closed. She stumbled forward without any regard to their presence or the music.

"Welp, that's creepy." Pax stepped into Kally's path. "As a person who has been stalking her for about a month, I can say she doesn't normally sleep walk."

"As her best friend for years and someone who does sleepovers with her all the time, I can say that a restraining order might _be_ in order," Merry stated with a smile.

Pax huffed as he evened with Kally. "I'm joking. Axel would never knowingly let me stalk a friend." Pax raised his hands to be level with Kally's right ear.

Euna took a step forward to stop Pax, but he already made a loud _clap_ beside Kally's head.

Kally jumped, stumbled, and put a hand to her mouth. "What—why—"

Euna's shoulder slumped. "It sounded like she was dreaming about something important."

Merry moved past Calex and Pax to put a hand on Kally's shoulder. "Hey sweetie. You were sleepwalking."

Kally shook her head. "No-o—I was talking to Rachel Dare—" She glanced from Euna and Joey's all-black costumes to Pax's semi-nakedness. She blushed. "Am I dreaming?"

Pax grinned. "Do you often dream about me—"

Calex socked his shoulder hard enough to make Pax stumble. The sound that came from Pax's mouth might have been confused with a dying chipmunk. _Someone's_ scarf was going to end up as firewood at their next sing-along.

Joey rolled her eyes. "Euna's right. That sounded like a prophecy. And if you were talking to Rachel, you might have been doing some weird Apollo-connection thing. What were you two talking about?"

The question sounded accusatory. Kally looked confused, scared, and might have been overwhelmed from seeing Pax without his shirt twice within twenty-four hours. Pax boys could do that. "I—uh—the Traitor's Prophecy," Kally said. Her eyes glanced around, trying to comprehend where she was. "Rachel thinks we're moving on to the next part of it."

While clutching his bruised arm, Pax took a step towards the van. They were _ridiculously_ close now—close enough that they should have seen the fires. Pax just hoped his mom's comforting assessment was right—if 35% could be considered comforting. As though still in her trance, Kally walked forward with him. Normally, he might have tapped his fingers together and cooed a, "Muahahaha! Yes my puppet!" but something felt wrong here.

"That right?" Calex asked. "We still have two trials left. Merry and I were just talking about it."

Euna shifted. For someone that Pax had noted as being oblivious enough to run into a Hecate pig ball, she was shockingly attentive to the conversation. "You said something about a domino effect?"

Kally frowned. "Just a feeling. Something…. That we won't be able to prevent something bad from happening."

By now, they'd reached the precipice of the hill. To their left, Pax could see the glinting scales of Peleus the dragon and the dim glow of the magic fleece. That was all that glowed. As they broke through the Mist barrier, the temperature dropped. He hadn't even noticed when he ran for help. Now he shivered.

They could see the van. There was nothing left of the fires but black scorch marks against the frayed white paint. Lucius brayed once, but there wasn't any other sound. No angry, shouting Hephaestus. Nothing but a winged, goat-thing sitting atop the roof. Pax's mother gave him a little wave and vanished.

 _Won't be able to prevent something bad from happening._

"We need to get down there," Pax said and ran down the hill, hoping he found a brother and not a puddle of motor oil.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed meeting Pax's mother in… person? And hopefully I'll be back on track with posting now. ^^''

* * *

footnote 1: For those of you who get the reference. Don't judge me. I had to. What did you expect after Vinyl Scratch?


	18. Axel:How Gods Express Friendship

Eighteen: Axel

How Gods Express Friendship

* * *

At first, Axel could barely see. When Hephaestus stopped choking him, the temperature inside the van had increased to the point of blistering heat. Axel gasped for breath, but each inhalation felt more like swallowing sparklers. His vision blurred. He'd heard stories of what happened when you screwed up fire breathing—that, if you inhaled, you could set your lungs ablaze. Axel could picture Frasco instructing them on proper technique, how far back to hold the torch, how much paraffin to hold in your mouth, and how to spit the biggest flame—

Then a giant weasel phased through the wall and slammed into the fire god. Axel didn't see what happened, but the temperature in the van dropped. Axel gasped in relief and crawled to the trunk. Somewhere along the line, he must have collapsed because he found himself at floor level. Maybe he could get his helmet out and protect himself with his lion cloak. Maybe he could reach a weapon.

The limp Mist-form of an average size weasel dropped on top of the chest when Axel tried to open it.

"Hecate's work right? She's a better craftsman than I gave her credit. Very sturdy. Unlike your lot. I forget how fragile your kind is."

Like Axel was an out of place car part, Hephaestus picked he and Hunnie up, set Axel on the chest, and put the unconscious weasel in his lap. Axel's head spun. He had to lean against the back of the passenger seat to keep his balance. Hephaestus was an efficient god—right? A mechanic. If he had wanted to kill Axel, then Axel would probably have a lot more in common with a toasted marshmallow, mostly the inanimate part. [footnote 1]

"I'm going to fix your suspension. Shoddy workmanship." Hephaestus dusted his hands together and sat on one of the benches that lined the van's wall. The vehicle shook. "Did Matthais do that? He's getting old enough that he and I need to have a real talk about how a man handles his car." He propped his leg brace up on the opposite bench and absently fished around in the van's scrapped weapons bin.

Now that Axel didn't feel like he was about to high five Mictlantecuhtli, he could make out the god's features. [footnote 2] As the myths had described him, Hephaestus was deformed. There were more tumor-like bulges decorating his face and skin than Gaea would have birthday candles on a cake. His beard glowed like dying coals, emitting occasional puffs of smoke and sparks. His eyes held an intensity that comforted Axel. Something about them felt reliable.

 _The coals!_ Axel panicked. He couldn't look for them, but only hope Hunnie or Baller had hoarded them away before Hephaestus appeared. Hunnie still wasn't moving in his lap. Axel gently laid a hand on the weasel's body, hoping she'd bite him half-heartedly. Nothing. At least she hadn't unformed.

"Sorry about pinning you," Hephaestus said. A _clank_ came from the van floor as he dropped something. Axel was surprised to see that, with a few quick hand motions, Hephaestus had already reassembled one of the broken swords into something much nicer. "I thought you might take off. I've been trying to track you down for a week and Aphrodite is…." Hephaestus whirled his hand around, then gave an exhausted sigh. His gaze sank a few inches and Axel had to wonder if Hephaestus actually loved his wife.

"Unbearably annoying," Axel provided. He really _hoped_ Hephaestus didn't love his wife.

The god gave a laugh, like the low bellows of an engine. He slapped his thigh. "This is why I like you!"

Axel didn't know how to break it to Hephaestus, but choking someone, setting their home on fire, and then almost killing their brother's pet didn't scream, " _friendship is magic_!"

"Aphrodite has been a mess," Hephaestus continued as he reached for more weapon fragments to fix. "She's hopping from lover to lover, taking quizzes on Quotev like, 'Am I pretty?' reading _Cosmopolitan_ and seeking out validation from _me_. Do you know how long it has been since she's tried to fish a compliment out of me? Probably since she and Apollo got into that argument over Rousseau." He chuckled.

Axel didn't know if he should feel relieved, annoyed, or disgusted. He wanted to tell Hephaestus that the fire god deserved someone better, but—as indicated by the inhabitants of Cabin Nine—he already knew that. Maybe Hephaestus needed a reminder that divorces were all the trend right now. Before they discussed this any further, Axel had to make something _very_ clear.

"I hate your wife," he stated.

"Oh," Hephaestus grinned. He tossed another finished dagger onto the floor. "I know you turned her down. I don't know how or for how long you can reject her, but I'll say I'm impressed. Why else would she be acting like this? That's exactly why I picked you for this quest."

Again, Axel wanted to point out the formula _strangle-fire-kill_ didn't invite quest-givers, but the potential rewards from the quest silenced him. _**This could be what we need**_.

"What quest?" Axel asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"I'm making a… vermin trap of sorts," Hephaestus explained. He paused in his weapon reconstruction to fumble in one of his pockets. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he frowned, snapped his fingers, and withdrew what looked like… a postcard? Axel didn't know what vacation spot had rats or the likes in it, but Hephaestus scowled darkly at the postcard before it smoldered into flames.

"For two very big vermin," he growled.

Axel blinked. Two very big vermin? _Aphrodite and Ares_ , Axel realized. Hephaestus's biggest vermin problem.

Hephaestus said, "To make it though, I need chilled, pure water from the River Styx. Right now, the highest point is in Berkeley Hills, California but the location moves. The next spot could be in Greece and I need a cup of this stuff ten minutes ago."

Axel had gathered enough energy to straighten his back. "Understood." _So leave ten minutes ago. Sounds feasible. I'll just pull out a pocket Kronos and ask him to rewind the clock._

Hephaestus continued withdrawing metal pieces from the bin to heat and cool them in his hands, crafting weapons that looked more beautiful than deadly. "Lucius won't be able to make it up that cliff-face. You'll have to figure that out on your own. But there's a bigger problem for you. Some automatons my Roman children made have taken it up as a kind of home. They were special automatons, made to kill the Scourge of New Rome during the Second Titan War, but they didn't want to be decommissioned afterwards. I'd recommend bringing some back up with them around."

 _The Scourge of New Rome_. Axel's fingers went numb. "Jack," he whispered.

When Hephaestus glanced up at him, Axel scrambled to continue. "Jak-Jak the Plague Bringer, Scourge of New Rome." _Keeper of the Leonis Caput and head of Orpheus Metal,_ Axel enlisted. "I've heard of him."

"Yea, a real nasty guy," Hephaestus grumbled. "My kids had to make something unique to deal with that menace. I'm just surprised he didn't show up on Gaea's side during the Giant's War."

Axel shrugged. Although he agreed that Jack had been sick in the head, he remembered little acts of… kindness that Jack had done right. Every year, on the anniversary of when Jack took he and Pax in as wards, Jack would burst into their tent playing a song, with their favorite snacks, tickets to a theme park, and a smile. _"Quick, let's leave before Luke can stop us!"_

Axel shook his head. It was rare he reminisced positively about Jack and now definitely wasn't the time.

Hephaestus stuck his hand back into the scrapped metal bin. Nothing clanged. The scattered pile of swords, knives, and daggers at his feet must have been the end of the stash. Hephaestus just saved Matthias _weeks_ of fixing weaponry and cursing in Norwegian.

"So, about this quest. You think you can bring me the chilled water in the half an hour or so? I have a time schedule to keep on this trap. I need to catch my vermin before they get away," Hephaestus said.

This felt too perfect. It was exactly the kind of leverage Axel needed, but something felt off. "As long as Lucius can get us there within ten minutes. Hephaestus… why don't you send automatons to do your quests?"

"A machine could do it in half the time, but technically, the River Styx is a goddess herself, so I can't intentionally send my machines into her realm." He sighed. "And don't get me started on the semantics of what makes a hero and what makes an automaton. I keep telling them—when cyborgs become common, they're going to reconsider the definition of an 'organic' and an 'all natural' demigod."

Axel could only imagine the types of injustices and inequalities _that_ would bring into the picture. Instead of asking further, he clenched his fist.

 _This is what I've been waiting for. Soon he'll be_ —

— _ **ours.**_

"You're a tradesman who understands the value of time spent. To do this, I want something in return," Axel said. Despite trying to sound calm, he could feel himself shake. _It's just from the strangling earlier,_ he assured himself but knew that wasn't the case. If this worked, he'd have the final pieces for his plan. He'd just need to cover his tracks.

Most gods would scoff at Axel for impertinence, but Hephaestus laughed. Axel was baffled at how jovial he was. Was it really that rare that people rejected Aphrodite? Or was Hephaestus just in a stellar mood?

Hephaestus gestured at the blades on the ground. "A weapon that'll never break? Easy. I don't know what you did to get cursed by Ares like this, but I'd probably give you that weapon purely to tick off that jerk."

"No," Axel said.

Hephaestus's smile weakened. "No?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I need something much more important." Axel swallowed. "I want the location of one of your sons. He disappeared after the war with Gaea. His name is Leo Valdez."

* * *

Axel unlocked and opened the back doors, relieved at the November chill that blasted him in the face. He needed to clear his head, to go for a walk or have a smoke, but he didn't have the time. Before Hephaestus disappeared, he gave Lucius a speed boost to get them to Berkeley, California—where the River Styx's cliff was most recently—quickly, but Axel wanted extra time to deal with those automatons. He thought about what Hephaestus said, _"I'd recommend bringing some back up."_

As though in answer, a pleasant surprise greeted him outside.

Six figures were cautiously approaching from the darkness. Kally had her discus cradled in hand, ready to throw. Calex's bow was drawn, an arrow notched to fire. If Axel's night vision wasn't so good, he might not have noticed Euna and Joey creeping up in a way that might make Hermes disown the Stoll brothers to replace them with these two. Pax was… mostly naked. And Merry hung to the back with a… boom box?

 _Well, this is convenient and time-saving,_ Axel thought.

Joey huffed and relaxed her form. "Pax, you made it sound like—"

Pax pushed past her to race at Axel. "You're alive!"

Axel hadn't realized how weak he was from the heat, smoke inhalation, and choking until Pax tackled him. Axel let the hug happen for a few seconds, set Pax down beside him and ruffled his hair. Happy tears streaked down Pax's cheeks until Baller jumped into the van and raced to the limp form of Hunnie on the back chest.

"Hunnie!" Pax cried and scrambled to the two weasels.

Axel frowned. He didn't know what to say about Hunnie. Neither he nor Pax were skilled in Mistform creation or repair. They could ask Lou Ellen later, but he doubted she would have the experience to heal something created by Hecate herself. The only person he knew that might be that powerful was Alabaster and Axel didn't even know if he was still alive.

Axel clenched his jaw. They had a quest to focus on. If Hunnie had maintained her form, she should be able to hold it indefinitely, even if not in a fully functional status.

The others were staring at the reunion with confusion.

Axel leaned out of the van. "Everyone get in. I'll explain when we get there, but we have our quest to do: the third Trial of Psyche."

* * *

Footnotes!

1 Unless trying to escape from Tantalus. That changes everything in marshmallow behavior.

2 Aztec god of the dead. He's always ready to tear apart the dead that enter his presence :D

* * *

Thanks for reading! :D


	19. Kally: Family Reunion Part I

Nineteen: Kally

Next Time, We'll Take the Donkey (or: Family Reunion Part I)

This time, the ride in the van felt less like playing bumper cars with high-speed tanks and more like a proper transcontinental bullet train with occasional ninety degree turns. When Kally found out Hephaestus had fixed the suspension, it just gave her even more reason to curse Matthias for his initial, half-assed donkey job.

Axel surprised everyone when he directed the Song sisters to sit in the front seats. As soon as he shut the doors in the back and they were settled in the front, he leaned over the front seats to… activate whatever control thing started Luke the Donkey? Kally mused that the windshield wiper might become some sort of reign or whip, but she assumed it was more complicated than the former and more humane than the latter.

"Last time you didn't explain the plan to us—" Joey snapped from the driver's seat. "—you pushed us off a cliff—"

"Patio," Euna absently corrected. She frowned at the orange and brown smear of scenery blurring past the window. She cracked her knuckles and glanced from Joey to Axel. Either she was having flashbacks of free falling or Euna was anxious about this quest. Weird to think about since Kally was sure she'd never seen Euna anxious over anything other than missing lunch.

"Whatever. Where are we going?" Joey removed the black napkin from her face so she could scowl over the seat at Axel.

Pax half-heartedly assured, "Somewhere with another cliff for Attempt Two: How to Pop Joey's Bubble in One Push or Less." He was in the back with Merry, Calex, Axel, and Kally, kneeling on the floor so he could sort through trash. He was making Hunnie a nest. Kally and he had tried to rouse her with strips of dried meat, but to no avail. Baller curled up with the unconscious weasel inside Kally's messenger bag until Pax was done making his, "cot for weasel queens."

When Pax glanced up to see Joey's reaction, he paused. "What happened to your face? It looks all normal and face-like."

Kally hadn't noticed before, but Joey did look different. There wasn't any eyeliner or eyeshadow darkening her eyes and her cheeks were flush. Without the makeup, she looked a lot more like a tinier version of her sister.

Joey blindly grabbed for something around the seat, found it, and threw it at Pax's head.

Axel's hand snapped out to catch it. He opened his palm, examined the contents, then grin crookedly. He pocketed the item and Kally could have _sworn_ it was a box of cigarettes. _Axel smoked?_ she wondered, thinking about how much the van always reeked of Febreze.

Pax scowled darkly at Joey, as if she'd thrown Axel a party request to one of Tantalus's family reunions. Kally glanced across the van to Merry and Calex on the opposite bench, since Merry tended to be better at picking up on subtle social cues. In Kally's sleepy disorientation, she hadn't noticed how puffy Merry's eyes looked.

When Kally caught her gaze, Kally put a thumb out, like a Roman emperor debating on a gladiator's fate. This was a maneuver they'd adopted in Mr. Paine's chemistry class. Although Merry was sitting several feet away from her, Kally felt a pang of longing. With Merry's move to New York, Kally would never be able to motion to her like this in a classroom again.

Merry gave her a smile and a thumbs up. "I'm repressing it until the appropriate time," she whispered. "When we have ice cream and movies with guys in speedos."

From where Axel was sorting through weapons on the floor, he paused to glance at Merry. Judging by the way he tried not to laugh, Kally guessed he'd only heard the last part about speedos. She just prayed Merry wouldn't ask him to be the movie star.

Fortunately, he turned back towards the Song sisters before she could comment on his aptitude for such a role. "We're collecting water in that." He pointed to a heavy-duty metal thermostat with a chemical sign hanging off the front seat. Sheepishly, he added, "From a cliff in Berkeley Hills, California. But Aphrodite won't be there this time."

Pax gave a genuine laugh. "Ha! Told y—wait—wait!" He sat back on his haunches, eyes widening in alarm. "Berkeley Hills?! That's… that's right by New Rome." Pax swallowed and his voice sounded small when he added, "And… by Dad."

Axel's shoulder sagged. He sighed and handed a dagger to Joey and a sword to Euna.

Kally's mind scrambled. Santiago Pax lived in California? Maybe the Pax boys were doing more than looking for Camp Half-Blood when they were on the East coast.

Pax's mouth hung open an extra second before he started to babble. "But-but what if we run into a Roman patrol-?"

"It'll be okay," Axel said, though it came out as more of a command. "The Romans didn't recognize us at Camp Half-Blood." He pulled an extra quiver of arrows off the wall and split the continents in half. He set one set beside Calex's feet. Although the van's suspension adjustment seemed to have decreased his normal nausea, Calex still had a hand over his mouth. He had leaned back against the van wall, eyes closed. He looked exhausted and Kally had to wonder if he'd had any sleep since their quest that morning.

She thought about his experience in Kakata and clutched her arms. They should be doing something for him. She didn't know anything about grief counseling or Calex himself, but distracting him with life or death missions and killer models didn't seem appropriate.

Kally glanced around. Euna and Joey looked alright, but Merry and Calex both looked like they could hit the snooze button for another two weeks. Kally's body ached. She must have collapsed mid-way through healing Pax. Her last memory before talk-dreaming with Rachel was sitting in Cabin Seven, singing over the horrific burns along his arm.

Pax favored his other arm as he gently removed Hunnie and Baller and placed them inside the Cot for Weasel Queen. Despite the ambrosia, her singing, and his natural fast-healing, he _still_ hadn't fully recovered.

When Axel turned to set a bow and the other half of the quiver at her feet, Kally whispered, "Uh, Axel? Do you think this is a good idea?" It sounded silly, since they were already careening towards their next mission. Under Axel's steady gaze, she felt her cheeks get red. "Everyone just seems… out of it."

He reached a hand to touch her shoulder.

 _And grinned with a mouth full of fangs, lolling tongue, and a crinkle along his gleaming, golden eyes. "Hey, we made it through Tartarus and back," he laughed darkly. "We can live through this fight._ "

Kally flinched. After a blink, she realized Axel wasn't even looking at her; his head was bowed and his other hand clutched his temple. The one on her shoulder trembled violently and tightened to the point of bruising. His breath quickened like he was in pain. From the way his legs shook, had he not leaned into her, he'd probably have collapsed.

No one else seemed to notice him lose his composure. As soon as Axel got close to her, Pax focused pointedly on the trash on the floor. Merry and Calex were directly behind Axel so it probably looked like a great moment of camaraderie and happy times. Joey was reaching to flick at Pax, and Euna was staring blankly at the weapons on the walls.

"Axel," she squeaked. Something sharp pricked her shoulder and she thought about all the cursed weapons in the van.

Axel grunted. He rubbed his face and Kally half-expected him to pull a mask off his face Scooby Doo style with a, _"I was secretly the janitor the whole time!"_

Instead, he said, voice quivering with restraint, "If you want to stay in the van, I can't force you to come with me." The tone was guttural, like the one he'd used to scare her brother.

Axel righted himself and the grip on her shoulder loosened. When he looked at her, his eyes and teeth were normal. "I'm sorry," he said. She couldn't tell if he was apologizing for the acting-crazy-for-two-seconds-thing or for dragging her along on this quest. "I know we're all tired, but I think we can do this." He sighed wearily and glared upward. "It's not like there's a godly force trying to wear us down," he muttered sarcastically.

Pax popped his cheeks. From over Axel's shoulder, Kally could see him raise a hand like he had a point to make, actually _think_ before he spoke and say, "I mean, there's always some god trying to do that, right? Isn't that like, Hypnos's job or something?"

As Axel turned to examine Pax suspiciously, Kally tried to calm herself down. She decided she needed to have a sit down with her godly powers. Seeing random scary crap at inconvenient times: not okay. Getting random, helpful dream-visions from Oracles: more okay, but not great when it involved sleepwalking.

She thought about her prior vision of the Leonis Caput, the one that was Euna's nightmare, and shuddered.

Axel sighed again at Pax and set a sword down at Merry's feet. She pulled her legs away from it. "Oh sweetie, I won't be using that," she hummed while shaking her head. "Now in the original third Trial of Psyche, Aphrodite had that poor darling collecting water. I assume you forgot to mention the drippy drops we're getting are from the River Styx—everyone's fav diving spot—but you also forgot to say: what monster are you arming us against?" She gestured to the weapons he'd distributed.

The van slowed down.

If Kally was Axel's home doctor and he even pretended to care about what was best for himself, she'd recommend he sit this one out. Really, she'd suggest they tackle this in a week or a month; but, as the vehicle came to a stop and the scenery outside Joey and Euna's windows stilled to shadowed trees, Axel strapped various weapons across his chest and hips.

"We should be stopping about an eighth a mile from the actual cliff face. There will be a segment of the River Styx there and the monster…" He puffed up his cheeks and popped them. During his hesitation, Joey rolled her eyes, kicked open her door, and hopped out to stretch.

"They're Roman automatons from the Second Titan War," Axel said. His speech pattern had slowed and his eyes examined Pax warily. His little brother had just tied a bow out of candy wrappers to top off his Weasel Throne. At the word, "Roman," Pax perked up.

Before he could continue, Joey ducked her head back in and interrupted. "You'll want to see this," she said.

Axel frowned. His expression had hardened into combat mode and his eyes flicked over to Joey. "We need to debrief on the monster before we go near the river, so we can't get close to investigate yet. What is it?"

Joey leaned away from the door to look at whatever it was. "Uh—duh about the river. But there's another van out here—a white one like yours. And it says _Pax Pharmaceutical_ on the side."

* * *

Axel didn't want anyone getting close to the other van. He had Lucius tug their van further alongside the river, until the donkey couldn't continue upstream due to a steep incline in the terrain, presumably the cliff they'd need to scale.

Then Axel led a small scouting party, consisting of she and Pax, to check it out. They'd whistle when the other four could go towards the rumble of water.

There was no way for Kally to be stealthy with the scattering of orange and red leaves along the ground, all tucked away like evil, inconvenient bubble wrap in the dark. The roar of a nearby waterfall might have covered her steps, but she felt like each step had a megaphone beside it, waiting for the _crunch_.

The Pax brothers were silent along either side of her. She mimicked the way they crouched as they progressed, but her movement felt childish and only useful as potential comic relief when she inevitably fell flat on her face. At least Pax had calmed down. This other van seemed to postpone the debate on fighting the automatons.

Ahead of them, the trees parted to reveal the white blur of a van. Although it must have been close to three in the morning, the half-moon's rays cut through the canopy of trees like a spotlight. She shuddered. It was still too dark. When her eyes strayed to deeper clusters of evergreens and hardwoods, she could envision Python's monstrous jaws snapping out of the shadows.

Kally jumped when Pax took her hand. Despite the weather being warmer here—California? —than at Camp Half-Blood and despite the heavy leather of his duster jacket, Pax was shaking.

"What are _they_ doing here?" he whispered and pulled Kally to a stop.

She wanted to hiss, _"Warning next time!"_ but couldn't when she saw his face. From the half she could see, his hazel eye was wide with alarm and he'd paused half-way through puffing up his cheeks. He looked like a terrified hamster.

Kally debated on how to tell Pax that she couldn't properly throw her discus or shoot an arrow if he was holding her hand. She wondered if her brother, Will, ever had this problem with Nico, but assumed it was probably the other way around for them.

Nothing seemed unusual about the van at first glance-besides being in the middle of the woods at three in the morning. It was industrial with tinted windows, like their Paxmobile, but a much newer, less burned and dented model. There were words across the sides in brilliant red cursive: _Pax's Pharmaceutical._ Underneath the company name, Kally could barely make out a phrase written in Ancient Greek, wrapped around a pithos: _With each loss, I grow._

That seemed sick for a medical transport van, but Kally guessed the average person couldn't read Ancient Greek.

Axel cursed. He motioned for Pax and Kally to follow him towards the sound of rushing water. As they snuck, he made a low whistle, signaling the others to walk towards the river as well.

Kally internally compiled everything she'd heard about their dad from Pax: Santiago Pax owned a pharmaceutical company. The Pax boys had run away from him twice. They'd stolen _their_ van from someone—likely their dad. Santiago Pax had murdered their Uncle—Frasco? —to get them back home. Santiago was trying to become a god. And—lastly, though Pax had mentioned it several times—Pax's mom and dad had a weird dating life.

" _Wen chikin merry, hawk ketch an befo daylite,_ " Axel muttered in what Kally assumed was Kriol.

They could hear the crunch of leaves nearby. Kally was surprised to see the other four reconvene from the woods. She'd half-expected Merry and Calex to fall asleep in a pile and Euna and Joey to be arguing too loud to hear the whistle. Kally should have had more faith in her friends.

"What is it?" Joey asked.

She and the others looked more alert than before. Everyone but Merry had a weapon out.

"Something we don't have time for," Axel growled.

Normally, Kally hated intruding when the boys spoke to each other in a foreign language, but she felt like this might be important. As the seven of them continued towards the sound of rushing water and approached a break in the trees, Kally squeezed Pax's hand. "What did Axel say?"

Pax popped his cheeks. "When the chicken is merry, the hawk will catch him before daylight."

"Ajax," she whispered. "This is serious."

Pax jumped when she called him by his first name. In the moonlight, she could see his fear break and a devilish grin slide onto his lips. "That is exactly what he said."

Axel sighed. He knelt to examine the ground. After some squinting, Kally realized Axel was looking at someone's—or _something's_ —tracks, leading from the other van towards the water. Someone else had been here first and was likely still here.

"It means happiness is fleeting when you're reckless. It's something Frasco said a lot," Axel muttered. "Now stay quiet and low."

He slowed their progression and withdrew a steel machete in one hand and a bronze hoplite sword on the other.

Kally always assumed Axel carried steel blades with him because he didn't want to waste celestial ones on defensive maneuvers. Steel blades might not hurt monsters, but he could at least use them for blocking. When she considered that all Santiago's workers might be normal mortals, she felt sick.

Everyone quieted and crept after Axel. After a few more yards, the trees parted. Fog drifted up from the river ahead. Between that and the darkness, details were impossible to see. Axel motioned them away from the tracks, then had them duck into the foliage and shadow of the tree line.

A cliff loomed upriver, the source of the cascading waterfall. Kally wasn't quite sure how tall—it seemed to blend into the sky. Although she couldn't see if the water was black or not, it _felt_ unnatural and ancient. This may not have looked anything like the River Styx in Howe Cavern, but there was no way she was going to get close enough to find out.

With the half moon's rays swirling through the fog and along the tree tops, everything looked enchanting, in an eerie _trolls-will-run-out-and-eat-you_ kind of way. Kally was shocked to find that she wasn't scared of fighting. Not that she wasn't terrified—she was in a villainous forest on a quest for Hephaestus with some henchmen from Santiago's evil organization or whatever—but she'd fought Python before. If that snake or any other monster rose from the water, she knew she could stand her ground without flinching.

The footsteps Axel had been tracing belonged to two humanoid figures by the river. One was tall and pushing a cart. The other was tiny, hopped from foot to foot, and danced about the first gleefully.

"Yea, you grime-licking Dart Face, I see it," said the one with the cart. It was a feminine voice, though low enough pitched that it could be a preteen boy. There was a lot more swearing involved than Kally thought possible for such a simple comment. [footnote 1]

Pax's grip tightened on Kally's hand. She wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement.

The tiny companion didn't respond to the first. It stood in front of the cart and continued to sway its hands in front of its body.

"Oh holy Hun-Batz—I can't see _you_ right now," the taller one snapped and released the cart. The girl—Kally decided it was a girl—reached her hand towards the moonlight…

…. And withdrew an axe from thin air.

Kally gawked. She didn't understand where the axe came from, but the blade glistened in the darkness. Axes weren't a common choice among the campers at Camp Half-Blood, but this one was different than any other she'd seen. The blade gleaming in the moonlight was narrow and had two thin holes where the metal met the wood.

" _A'max_ ," the girl uttered.

A symbol burned along the axe blade until the entire edge was consumed by flames. The fire continued to burn, as though the metal were a torch.

"Be useful and take this," the girl snapped and tossed the torch to her companion.

In the torchlight, Kally could see they both looked human. The girl was about fifteen with a vibrant blue mohawk and dark eyes that were smeared with eyeliner. She wore a button down burgundy dress shirt with a punk-style leather vest overtop. Her sleeves were rolled up to reveal golden bangles that flashed brightly against her dark skin. That was the kind of girl Kally would desperately want to befriend at Warped Tour but be too terrified to approach.

She withdrew a compound crossbow from a holster on her back, aimed, and fired twice at the waterfall. For a moment, nothing happened. Then two tiny torchlight flames erupted along either side of the waterfall, lighting up the cliff face. The effect was mesmerizing with the cascading mist.

Something metallic creaked near the roaring water.

Both she and the boy froze. When nothing happened, the boy tapped his foot impatiently. He was a few years younger, with beautiful black hair that fluttered loosely down his back. His features were Asiatic and crunched into an impish smile that reminded her too much of Pax. He wore a matching burgundy button down, but he had suspenders that were completely lined with darts.

Pax tugged at Kally's hand in excitement. "It's—it's them! It's Lapis and Hiro—" he babbled until Axel's hand shot across Kally to clamp his mouth shut. Axel's hoplite sword flopped in front of her.

Axel snarled something in a foreign language.

Pax grunted back.

Those names sounded familiar. These must have been Pax and Axel's half-siblings. Other than Hiro's evil smile, she didn't see much resemblance. None of them even looked like they were from the same continent. Kally remembered Pax referring to Hiro's mother once, and to Axel's. Had Santiago had a different wife for each child? Something about this felt wrong. Weren't Lapis and Pax near the same age? And what Greek god could control fire? Only Hephaestus, right?

Hiro—the boy, Kally presumed—glanced at their shrubbery and the Pax brothers went still.

Lapis didn't seem to notice. "Dad said we have fifteen minutes before this whole waterfall picks itself up and moves to a different location. Maybe if he would have given us some freaking lackies, we wouldn't be so pressed for time and could pick up ice cream for everyone on the way back." As she said it, she withdrew an empty gallon from the cart.

Hiro tossed the axe back to Lapis. He motioned with his hands—sign language, Kally realized belated—in their group's direction.

Kally felt Pax tense.

"Pft, shut up," Lapis muttered with a smirk. "I'll bet Dad would have given Ajaxapax some reinforcements. He was always better at weaseling out of work."

Pax huffed through Axel's hand, indignant.

Kally could envision his response now: _It takes work to be this lazy._

Hiro snagged the ends of Lapis's vest and pointed frantically in their direction, but paused when another creak came from the waterfall.

Lapis whirled her axe-torch toward the sound and dropped the gallon. Hiro reached for a dart.

Nothing happened. Despite that, Kally fingered her Argonaut statue, debating on releasing Pax's hand. She could hear the gentle shuffle of the Song sisters as they prepared their weapons. Axel held his machete in front of them, his other hand still clamping Pax's mouth shut. Although he didn't say anything, the message was clear: _Hold._

Something approached Hiro and Lapis from the mist. At first, Kally thought it had climbed down from the cliff face beside the waterfall, but that couldn't have been right—it was humanoid. As it came closer, Kally could see the glint of silver armor and a red tunic, something she'd seen before, when they fought the Silver Festus—Romans! It must have been an injured Roman. The armored individual limped heavily as it approached, its armor creaking with each step.

Lapis kept her axe posed, clearly as surprised as they were by the intrusion. "We have no quarrel with you Roman," she called.

When the soldier spoke, his voice was metallic and slow, like a wind-up toy that ran out of steam. "Do you like sing-alongs?" it asked. "Yes you do. We like to sing along and how about you?"

The voice was a recording, one that hadn't suffered time well. As the soldier came more into the light, Kally could see he didn't have a face—just a blank sheet of golden metal. What looked like the fleshy remains of a face dangled off the corner of its chin by a thread.

"Ugh," Joey and Calex complained.

"Yea, he needs some super glue," Merry whispered in agreement.

This must have been their automaton monster. Kally wondered if it breathed fire or something with how heavily Axel had armed them. From what she could see, it didn't even have a weapon at its side, but it made up for that in creepiness. Upon examining it further, Kally could see it didn't have hands or feet, just awkward stumps.

Lapis and Hiro exchanged a confused glance. Hiro looked, rightfully, freaked out. Lapis seemed more annoyed. She kept her blades up as she instructed, "Go collect the water."

Without needing any other encouragement, Hiro snatched up two empty jugs and scurried to the shoreline.

The Roman automaton took another stiff step forward. "This is your last warning Plague Bringer. Drop the guitar and come with us peacefully."

Pax stiffened.

"Your bolts are fried, rust bucket," Lapis hissed. "There's no Plague Bringer here and no guitar. And I wouldn't come any closer unless you want to be scrap metal."

"Do you like sing-alongs?" the automaton repeated in a monotonous chant. Kally wondered if its circuitry was too fried to comprehend her threat. In that same jerky fashion, it limped towards Lapis. "We like sing-alongs-"

Pax released Kally's hand so he could tear Axel's away from his mouth. When she glanced at him, she could see his eyes were wide with terror in the fire and moonlight. He babbled, "We need to get them out of there, those are the automatons that-"

The automaton stopped barely outside Lapis's weapon reach. It made a loud creak. Kally hoped the body would just stop functioning, a nice, _Sorry for the creepy build up! But this ride is out of order!_

At first, that's what she thought happened.

Then the soldier's body crumbled with a sudden _clank._ Its forearms, biceps, calves, thighs, and head all popped off, like someone had released the tension on one of those old creepy string dolls. The metal parts lay there for a moment before each unfolding. Some unfolded into eight tiny blades. The others unfolded into four sets of clamps, like the ones she'd used in her shop class. Then they stood up, making ten metallic spiders with legs made from said razor blades or clamps.

The automatons skittered with the speed and grace of a real arachnid. They rushed at Hiro and Lapis.

Axel clamped his hand back over Pax's mouth to keep Pax from yelling. He almost knocked Kally over as he struggled to keep his little brother quiet.

Lapis had closed her eyes with a terrifyingly calm look on her face like, _Yea, I expected to be killed by mechanical spiders. That's what my horoscope said._ Then she vanished, a storm cloud appearing a few feet above where she'd been.

The spiders rushed past where she'd been. Two leapt at the storm cloud, but—as though the black mist were fully sentient—the storm cloud drifted to the side.

The other eight dashed towards Hiro. He fumbled to set down his jars filled with the oily liquid of the River Styx. He withdrew something from his pockets and began to shake his hands around himself in a circle. At the end of the circle, he threw his hands in the air, set a small slip of white paper on the ground, and clapped.

This gave him no time to draw a weapon. Kally expected to see the spiders slice him to pieces. She got ready to throw her discus. Even if Axel didn't want them helping, she wasn't going to watch that kid get butchered, but what happened made her pause.

The spiders bounced off some invisible barrier. They swarmed in mad circles around Hiro, hopping to give him a nice sharp neck hug, but crashed back to the river shoreline.

While the spiders were distracted by Hiro, the storm cloud descended back to the ground. Lapis stepped out of it, her flaming axe in mid-swing at a spider. The blade made contact and that metallic arachnid busted into eight separate pieces of scrap metal. Only nine more to go.

Like a golden storm, they whirled back towards Lapis and swarmed.

Lapis cut through another before they reached her. The closest one lunged at her arm, eight legs outstretched to latch. She dodged to the side, but the blades tour into her dress shirt, making four distinct gashes.

Before any of their group could rush to their aid, Lapis roared. With a swipe of her hand, red lightning erupted in an arch around her.

Four more of the spiders were caught in the wave of electricity. They seized, spasmed, and collapsed.

Kally felt her jaw drop. Although Calex, Euna, and Joey had started to rise, all of them paused. _Lightning_ , she thought. _Axel and Pax's sister could shoot red lightning? And speak words to cast fire? And what was that about turning into a cloud?_

After seeing that display, any living creature would probably reconsider its options and take a rain check on death. But the five spiders ignored the recycling heaps of their friends except to lung over them. They were relentless. Some part of Kally's head whispered that these tiny monsters could wear the strongest of warriors down. But watching Pax and Axel's half-sister made that hard to believe.

Lapis smashed one into the shoreline with her axe.

Another slipped under her guard. Before Lapis could react, it latched around the arm holding her weapon.

At first, Kally thought Lapis might have been lucky: that was one of the spiders with clamps for legs instead of knives. Then Kally heard the sickening squeal of metal, like someone had tightened a rusted bolt.

Lapis shrieked in pain.

She dropped her axe.

By now, Axel had leaned past Kally and was physically restraining Pax from running in there. Euna drew her sword.

"Wait!" Axel snarled, but none of them listened. Kally rose to her feet, ready to pivot and crush that automaton with her discus. Joey twirled out her dagger and Calex had already notched an arrow on his bow. Although Kally couldn't see Merry, she was sure the girl was readying some good battle music on her jacket for them to crash the party.

Then a vortex of sand and fire erupted around Lapis's arm. The clamped spider was blasted off by the sheer force, exploding into metallic shrapnel. The tunnel of dust and heat spiraled from her shoulder to her fist like a desert storm exoskeleton, something Kally had never seen before. _No_ demigod she knew could do that, not even Jason Grace.

In a rage, she screamed, " _Ha-wi!_ "

This time, Kally could clearly see a symbol blaze in crimson light above her arm, almost like Lapis was demanding a god claim her. Except, it didn't look Greek. It looked like two men hitting a double helix. Talk about hating modern science.

A pillar of flaming sand flared from Lapis and struck the remaining four spiders. They tumbled backwards. One skid into the River Styx and didn't reemerge. Another lay flattened on the ground. The last two stumbled back towards Lapis, but moved at a slower rate. Kally had to wonder if the sand had damaged their gears.

Breathing heavily, Lapis extended the arm still encased in a fiery tornado. The exoskeleton snatched up the remaining spiders, mimicking the motion her hand made inside. One spider clamped down around the exoskeleton's pinky but only sank in an inch. The other attempted to stab at the stormy palm, but the blades twisted in the swirling maelstrom.

"Stupid, tetanus inducing—" For each curse, half of which Kally could _never_ say in front of her parents unless she wanted _death by mortification_ on her grave, Lapis slammed the spiders into the ground.

By the time she punched down the fourth time, there was nothing left but the pieces of bent clamps and dented blades.

The sand and fire dissipated from Lapis's arm. She sank to her knees, looking exhausted.

Kally hadn't looked over at Hiro until then. He was still beside the jugs that were filled with the River Styx. Once all the commotion was over, he snatched up the piece of paper he'd dropped at the start of the fight. After tucking it into his belt, he skipped over to Lapis.

When Axel tugged Kally back behind the foliage, she nearly screamed. After a second, Joey dragged Euna and Calex back down as well.

They stared in awed silence as Hiro flicked Lapis's injured arm.

"OW!" Lapis shouted.

He made a motion with his hands, like he was snapping an invisible twig.

"Yea, no duh it's broken Dart Face," Lapis snapped. She collapsed backwards to lay down and stare up at the sky and grumbled, "Set, you piece of overinflated hot air—"

Kally didn't know what she was swearing about until she followed her gaze. The tree branches above Lapis had set fire and flickered in the darkness. With her fiery axe and the flames on either side of the waterfall, Kally assumed Lapis had _meant_ to set those tree branches on fire and was controlling the steadily spreading flame. From the way she was cursing, Kally thought they might want a consultation from Yogi Bear.

Hiro pinched his fingers together, then raised one hand and sank the other. When they separated by a foot, he reversed their direction.

Lapis made a rude gesture that probably wasn't ASL then dropped her hand back down. "The Romans are supposed to send a patrol to this area any minute now from what dad said—even when there isn't a waterfall, or flames, or demonic automatons. They'll take care of it. It isn't like Cali is known for forest fires or anything."

Hiro sighed and tried to roll Lapis back towards their cart, like she was the start of a snowman. Lapis swatted him away, sat up, and fished around in her leather vest. She withdrew a piece of paper, crumbled it up, and tossed it vaguely in the direction of Kally and their group's shrubbery.

They tensed, but the paper only made it about a foot.

"Really!" Lapis complained and groaned.

Hiro burst into boisterous laughter, an odd sound since it was the first one Kally heard him make. He stepped over, picked it up, and stabbed a dart through it. Before Kally could follow the movement, the dart was lodged into the tree trunk above where Euna's head had been. Euna had ducked, blinking blankly at the paper.

"Hey hikers!" Lapis shouted. "We're looking for some people. We care about them, are worried, and stuff." Though her words weren't the most poetic, Kally could see Lapis's face furrow in concern.

Then she collapsed onto her back again. "We're getting lackies to do this next time. Hiro—carry me. Be useful."

Hiro picked up a leaf, delicately placed it on her forehead, and patted her cheek.

"Hiro, you're the worst," she grumbled.

Neither seemed to mind that the fire had danced from one branch to the next. With the moonlight and the fog twisting in the background, it looked like an impressionist painting. Kally was waiting to see a screaming man in the distance.

She thought she'd be worried about that, or how Hiro and Lapis had gathered themselves to roll their cart back towards the path, but she was too distracted by the piece of paper that Euna had unfolded in her lap.

There was a picture of Pax and Axel in the center. This must have been from a year ago. Pax's hair was shorter and almost looked manageable. His cheeks were even rounder than they were now. The smile on his face looked forced, almost nervous. He wore the same burgundy button down that Hiro and Lapis had on.

Kally would have hoped, a year ago, Axel would have some embarrassing teenage photos that made him look more like a hot jock, but this definitely wasn't what she had wanted. His hair was unkempt, there were dark shadows under his eyes, and his five o'clock shadow looked more like a patchy, 11 o'clock shadow. He had an arm around Pax's shoulder and a cigarette pinched in the same hand. There was a dark smile on his face, like he'd just laughed at something he didn't find funny.

Above the picture was the word:

MISSING

Below the picture, the text continued in smaller writing:

Ajax Pax was kidnapped by his older half-brother Axel Pax in May. Ajax is a cheerful boy who may not realize the danger he is in. Axel is a troubled young man who is prone to lashing out with violence and likely has illegal firearms. He can be very manipulative and charming and desperately needs professional help. If seen, for your own safety, _do not attempt to apprehend,_ please contact us.

Please help me reunite with my sons. I have been terrified of what could have happened to them: any leads can help. Santiago Pax.

Kally swallowed. The last bit was huge.

$50,000 REWARD

* * *

Footnote 1: Words that won't be appropriate until _Attrition of Peace_ , when I up the rating again. Muahahaha!

* * *

I hope you were as excited about reading two more Paxes as I was about writing them :D


	20. Euna: Poultry Should be on a Plate

Twenty: Euna

Poultry Should be on a Plate; Not Trying to Eat Us

Euna could hear the oak screaming in pain. She couldn't process what she was looking at with that in the background, but she remembered her dad talking about the cost of college. Without a scholarship, he said the schools he wanted her to go to would cost $50,000. She thought, _huh, Axel and Pax are worth a semester in college._

Then Euna tossed the piece of paper to the side and looked above the shoreline. Joey did the same, her hands going to her ears like that could smack out the fire. The others were still gawking at the paper she'd thrown down-except Axel and Pax. Either they'd noticed the impending wild fire, or they could see some pegasi doing synchronized air dives.

Wildfire weren't a big problem in Virginia, but Euna could remembered a school video about them that horrified her. It was when they lived in Georgia, during the 2012 heat wave. The fire had twisted and raged across acres in minutes, used grass as a stepping stone, and leapt through houses like a sentient monster, gliding blissfully along the wind to dive and incinerate its next victim.

If this fire went out of control like that one did, this whole forest could be destroyed and they'd learn a thing or two about how witches were executed in continental Europe. [footnote 1]

But Euna didn't know how to stop it. She wished Camp Half-Blood handed out miniature versions of Percy Jackson for emergency situations.

"What do we do?" Joey echoed her thoughts out loud.

 _Fell me,_ Euna heard the tree say-more felt as an emotion since it didn't come out in words.

She felt sick, but said, "We need to knock the tree down into the River Styx."

Joey frowned. They both knew this was an old, beautiful tree. She could feel its essence but she couldn't really argue with its suicidal sacrificial sentiment.

Before they killed it, they to try one last resort.

"Follow me," she commanded her sister.

Euna sprinted at the tree's base, lacking a full plan. As she ran past Calex and the others, he dragged his eyes from the paper to notice the pyrotechnics display. "Bollocks!" he cried and sprinted to catch up with her "How can we help?"

 _Uh… don't get crushed?_ Was all Euna could think. She shoved her sword into her belt, realizing that would probably backfire later.

Fortunately, Joey was quicker and said, "Stay out of the way!"

Calex stumbled to a stop.

"Help boost me up and then stay here!" Euna directed Joey as she dashed, full speed, at the trunk. If Joey hadn't understood the unexplained plan, Euna might have slammed right into the oak, adding insult to injury with its burning limbs. Instead, at the same time she felt the tug in her gut, a root popped from the ground and skyrocketed her upward. The root didn't get her as high as she would have liked, but—even if she failed to break off the burning branches and they had to topple the entire tree over—at least this weakened the root structure keeping it grounded.

Euna grasped the lowest branch and pulled herself up. She wrapped her legs around the limb and tried to balance. Between this and the falling off a cloud earlier that day, Euna was really happy she wasn't terrified of heights.

The tree's screaming was louder now, more like a, _what are you doing idiot?_ Fire trickled towards her down the branch.

This was spreading too fast.

Euna knew she could heal blights on most trees, but she'd never tried to hurt one before. She focused on the part of a branch about a foot in front of her and thought about decay, rot, and anything else that weakened plants. "I'm going to amputate your limb," she warned the tree, feeling the insides start to crumble.

Euna wondered how freaked out she'd be if the tree formed a mouth and directly talked back. Fortunately, it didn't as it was still a tree.

If she could slice the branch off and knock it into the River Styx, then she and Joey wouldn't need to uproot the whole tree. Although she couldn't see her friends below, she could hear them shouting. She hoped Joey was keeping them clear.

Euna exhaled, withdrew her sword, and sliced at the weakened part of the branch. The branch cracked and broke off.

She almost lost her balance. The sword slipped from her fingertips and toppled down. Now she _really_ hoped Joey had kept everyone back.

Before the tree could tumble, a gust of wind roared the fire upwards, into the smoking leaves above.

Although the branch did splash into the River Styx, the flames flicked to life in the limb above her.

Euna pressed her lips together. She couldn't do this fast enough. Besides, she could feel sweat coating her brow. Maybe she was closer to the tree's predicament than she thought she was. They would need to knock the tree down, but first, she would need to get down without getting caught in a conflagration.

Though all the noise below, she could hear Axel's voice raise above the rest, _"_ EUNA! DUCK!"

Euna had to admit, for an insecure moment, she wondered why Axel was talking about poultry. Then she heard the caw of what sounded like a giant seagull above her. Euna tucked against what was left of her tree limb.

Something slammed in the blazing branches above her, making the whole oak tremble. Cracking sounds echoed above her head. Twigs and sizzling leaves sprinkled her back.

Whatever had smashed into the tree ripped the burning branches clean off.

Another gust of wind blasted Euna as the thing beat its wings. Her hair slapped her in the face. She could hear the brief whistle of the branches falling.

Within a blink, those branches were engulfed in the mist of the River Styx. They hissed as they hit the water's surface.

Despite having almost been knocked off the branch and set on fire, Euna exhaled a sigh of relief, likely at the same time as Joey and the tree. It had stopped screaming.

Now, the only fire was the controlled torch-like burn of Lapis's arrows in the mountain side.

She sat up, debating on the best way to get down.

Across the river, on a bent tree branch, Euna could see the frame of a massive bird. Due to prior experiences, Euna groaned at the thought of having to fight Aphrodite's pigeons again, but this bird looked much fiercer than those doves had. And it had a rider. Although Euna had to squint in the firelight from Lapis's arrows, she could make out a muscular, tan teen with dark hair. He wore street clothes and a gladius at his side.

"Hey, UC kids. This is how forest fires start. Knock it off with the illegal fireworks, else you could burn down the full park," the boy snapped.

His voice was so firm, Euna almost straightened to say, " _Yes sir,_ " and likely would have fallen into the river. Instead, she searched out the root that had flung her up here. It was about ten feet down diagonally.

Euna reached out with her powers to tug at it, shifting it directly under her. The tree grumbled, but obliged. She hopped down onto the root.

"Wait-" Axel called to the eagle rider.

The boy pressed his lips into a firm line. "Seriously, I will call the cops on you guys if you aren't more careful," he said, ignoring how Axel stepped towards him. Then the bird hopped off the tree branch and made a low sweep before gliding upward.

By then, Euna had lowered the root, creaking and moaning, back into the ground. Doing this stuff without an adrenaline rush took way too much effort. She dusted off her hands and glanced at the others. Calex looked impressed. Joey rolled her eyes and glared back at the rider. "Jerk," she muttered at the disappearing figure.

"WAIT!" Axel tried again, but the eagle and rider either didn't hear him or didn't care.

Axel cursed. He frantically glanced over at Merry, his eyes glinting fiercely. She and Kally had all stood up from the shrubbery, sometime while she was monkeying around. Their eyes kept drifting back to that note. Euna had almost forgotten it.

"How did Psyche get the cup from the River Styx?" Axel demanded.

Merry watched the bird fly higher, "An eagle. She was a pious broad and Cupid's love. All the gods but Aphrodite wanted to help her so they sent an eagle-"

Axel cupped hands to his mouth. When he spoke, he _roared_

" _ **I AM THE SLAYER OF THE KAUKASIAN EAGLE! HIS BRETHREN WISELY FLEE BEFORE ME!"**_

His voice had an underlying growl that boomed and echoed around the forest, even over the rumble of the waterfall.

Everyone jumped. They stared at Axel. Euna had to wonder if he secretly had some kind of microphone built into his cheek, but she guessed that kind of vocal projection came from the Pax boys' circus days.

Although the figure was hard to discern, Euna could see the darkened blotch of the eagle veer back towards them.

Axel grunted. "Even their birds are prideful." He dropped his arms and turned to Calex. "I need you to sprint back to the van and grab a quiver off the wall. It should be the last one hanging. _Do. Not. Tip. It._ "

Calex frowned, clearly uncomfortable. "Hold up mate. I think we need to talk about-"

Axel sighed. "Hephaestus is going to give us the coordinates to Leo Valdez, but if we don't get that eagle to help us—" He pointed to emphasize. "—we won't get the water from the top of the River Styx in time to trade for that information."

Calex's jaw dropped, his grey eyes glistening with fanboy wonder. It reminded Euna of the time her dad forced her to take Joey to a SHINee concert when they were visiting her aunt in Korea. "L—L—Leo Vald—"

"Yes. _Go_."

Without another question, Calex sprinted into the darkened forest.

"Euna, Joey, can you two hold that bird down if he doesn't get back in time?" Axel asked, pivoting to face them. Euna was glad he didn't acknowledge any of the tree stuff they just did. After all, it would have failed without that bird's help. Still, Axel seemed… agitated.

"Oh my gods," Joey said. "Will you tell us the plan _before_ you initiate it next time?"

Technically, he was right now. "We can," Euna said. That bird wasn't that big-maybe the size of an SUV. There were plenty of roots and vines to choose from in the forest. Euna didn't know what the Kaukasian Eagle was, who Leo Valdez was, or what that nonsense was from the _MISSING_ flier, but she trusted Axel. Maybe he'd pushed her and Joey off a cliff, but he had a plan that worked when he did it. And he'd protected and carried her when she'd shrank to a tiny Winnie the Pooh character. That counted for a lot.

When the eagle grew closer, they could hear its rider shouting at it to stop.

Kally withdrew her discus. "Do you think you can put that bird and its rider in a euphoric mood?" she whispered to Merry.

Merry bit her lip pensively. "That bird looks real mad but—"

The eagle dove.

"Back up!" Axel yelled.

Everything happened in a heartbeat. Pax slammed Merry and Kally to the side. Euna and Joey rolled out of the way. Axel went into a defensive stance with his steel machete and hoplite sword.

The bird's talons were enormous when outstretched, probably capable of snatching up a very unlucky centaur foal. It made Euna wonder what the Romans fed them to make sure their unicorn fields weren't depleted.

Axel twisted away from the first sweep, narrowly missing a claw.

Euna had hoped the bird would fly up for a second circle before attacking again, but the eagle rapidly fluttered its wings to keep in a hover. Wind blasted all of them as the eagle hung suspended, darting its beak down to attempt to crack Axel's skull open. It looked more like a giant ice pick that had been tarred and feathered.

Turquoise fire exploded below the bird.

Euna froze. She could see Joey shrink at the sight.

Now should have been the time to wrap the eagle's talons with roots, but she could only stare. _I'm drowning in turquoise fire_ , Joey had said about her nightmare. Euna hadn't thought much about their nightmares since they talked about it that morning. She'd been so worried about her sister's death prophecy and avoiding more quests, she hadn't considered where they could _find_ turquoise flames.

Here it was.

"SONG!" Axel snarled.

Whatever he'd done to make the fire and distract the bird wore off. It snapped its beak down, reaching to snatch up Axel as Axel tried to dodge and deflect with his swords. Metal clanged against the keratin beak as the two danced and the rider frantically tried to calm its steed.

Pax swore somewhere nearby.

Neither Song sister reacted.

But Euna was glad when a golden discus hissed into the air to smash into the eagle's beak. The bird recoiled with a cry.

Then a figure darted out of the woods with a red and black beanie and scarf trailing after. Calex already had his bow drawn and an arrow notched. A milky white substance dripped off the arrow's edge.

Pax shouted, "Just do a glancing blow! Don't imbed the arrow-as glancing a blow as if you were avoiding eye contact with an ex-girlfrie-!"

"Shut it!" Calex snapped and fired.

Euna didn't see the arrow make impact, but it must have done its magic. The eagle scrambled backwards, flapping onto the closest branch, which bent near the point of breaking under its weight. As though confused, it pawed at the dent in its beak, where Kally had nailed it with her discus.

Axel stood with his frying pan in one hand and a broken hoplite blade in the other. The machete lay in ruins at his feet. He breathed heavily, sweat sticking his shirt to his skin. There were holes in the ground around his legs from where the eagle had pecked. Blood soaked his left arm.

Euna stood up and frowned. She'd have to ask Axel about the flame when he looked less ready to fall over.

Pax darted to his brother, tackling him in a hug and scowling over Axel's shoulder at the flustered eagle and cursing rider. "Stupid eagles, thinking they're on the top of the food chain-"

Axel dropped his broken blade to pinch Pax's ear gently. "Ajax, I don't want to fight it again."

Pax whined and ducked his head. His words didn't match his tone. "That's Michael Kahale, son of Venus, centurion of the First Cohort. Eleu Kahale was his sister."

Axel nodded and sighed, releasing Pax's ear to touch one of the scars on his face. Then he disentangled himself from Pax to take a shaky step towards the eagle.

The rider had directed the eagle onto the ground and dismounted. He looked rattled, but was able to stand up tall as he approached them. Euna decided—if she ever ended up at a crazy Roman party with a mechanical bull—she'd bet extra cake pieces on this guy.

"Keapora never loses control like that. What did you say to her? I couldn't hear over the wind. And who are you?" the Roman put a hand to his gladius.

Euna glanced around. Either this guy was incredibly confident in his own abilities, was sure they were nonthreatening, or was an idiot. Yea, he had a giant eagle, but there were still seven of them. If nothing else, Joey and she could take that bird now that it was on a tree.

Axel opened his mouth, but Merry stepped in front of him.

"We're just some good-natured demigods who are sad when we get ignored while calling for help," she supplied.

Euna could see Axel tense. She knew the feeling. There were times when Joey stood up and talked for both of them and Euna wanted to punch her in the face, but it would take too much effort and family embarrassment for that wish to become a reality.

Kally saved Axel from having to react. She gently took his arm. She pulled out a needle and thread from her bag. The girl tried to look firm while pointing for him to sit down, though she only accomplished a furious blush and a severe case of, _too-cute-to-be-taken-seriously._

Pax helped her drag Axel to the side as Pax was—Euna assumed—well versed in the act of _too-cute-to-be-taken-seriously._ Calex kept glancing down at the quiver he had in worry as he walked over to join them.

"I thought you were University of California students," the rider said, more as a statement than an apologety. "I'm Michael Kahale—" As Pax had predicted. "—centurion of the First Cohert. You must be…" He paused as though with distaste and Euna suddenly wished she'd smacked his eagle out of the sky. "... Greek demigods?"

"Yes," Merry answered, smiling sweetly. "We need to get some water from the top of that waterfall. It would be rather unfortunate if it was reported that Kea went a little berserk. I feel like Reyna or Frank wouldn't like that."

Michael scowled. "Of course it'll be reported. Keapora will need to be assessed to assure she's fit for duty. And if not, she'll be decommissioned." Although his voice didn't waver and his shoulders remained square, he glanced back at the eagle, grim.

Euna decided she liked Michael Kahale. Merry must have too, since her mouth broke into a broad smile. In this case, the straightforward approach might work the best, though Euna thought that was always the best since everything else required forethought. Unless you were Pax.

"This waterfall will probably disappear in the next few minutes," Euna piped in. "We can't get up there quickly. Can we get a ride?"

"You're a little less vertically handicapped," Merry said, putting a hand on one hip so she could lean past him to examine the eagle.

Euna almost forgot to add, "Oh, and there are probably some killer automatons up there."

Something pinched Euna's hip. She went to swat it only to find Joey right beside her. "You're bad at selling things," Joey hissed at her. She seemed to have gotten over her fear of the turquoise fire, though they would need to ask about that later.

Louder, Joey said, "We'll buy you ice cream afterwards if you do."

That sounded like a solid offer. Euna had wanted some since that Lapis chick had mentioned it to Hiro.

Michael looked annoyed. He glanced over to where Kally was patching Axel's wound and Pax was snatching the quiver from Calex. Whatever tranquilizer was in that must have been massively powerful to calm that bird with just a nick.

Michael looked back to Joey, Merry, and Euna. "Okay. But I can only take one rider, maybe two if they're light. And it can't be that guy." He pointed a thumb towards Axel.

Joey immediately stepped forward before Euna could stop her. Euna really needed to consider getting her a shock collar.

"The lightest?" Joey asked. "That'd be me."

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Author's note: Hey guys! Hopefully I should be on track every week until the end of _Blood of a Mayan_ , so we should be back to our normal programming. I hope you enjoyed _When the Stone Cracks_ in the meantime! :D

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footnote 1: Unlike in continental Europe, Americans didn't burn their witches; they hanged them. They didn't really do that in Britain either (though I think they did in Scotland with their male witches…?) I just got into an argument with one of my friends who specialized in continental witch trails, where they do burn their witches… so I had to be spiteful and put it here like a jerk…. Thank you for bearing with my random, spiteful fact of the day!


	21. Ajax: Really Fates?

Twenty-One: Ajax

Really Fates, You Wanna Cut Me Some Slack-WAIT! NO! DON'T CUT THE SLACK!

Everything was _way_ too easy but—in the holy book of Pax—there would be no complaints against the Trials of Ease, unless it interrupted the romantic comedy he had running in his head.

For once, Axel couldn't play stoic dark knight. Not that Pax didn't like watching his brother exhume his primordial awesomeness, but Axel seriously needed to take some time to sit out and enjoy a Reese's Stick. There was no way Axel could ride that bird: he clearly did not weigh the least out of all of them. Doctor Kally demanded he keep his contact with uppity fowl to a healthy minimum and mythical creatures got skittish around Axel, even when he hadn't killed their birdly cousin. Did birds keep track of cousins? Or once you left the nest, were you fair game? Pax would have to ask Ella the Harpy.

Of course Pax got the second spot volunteering for a little life-or-death temptation. He was most certainly not one of the lightest: he was a tiny ball of muscle and steel, but he had an idea to make up for the weight differential. Not a plan though—those were too organized and sounded less dashing.

He asked Euna and Joey to craft a fifteen-foot rope made of vines and roots. They tied it around the giant eagle's, Kea's, foot and then around Pax. He kicked off his shoes so he could climb easier. He gingerly stepped onto one of Kea's talons, half expecting the eagle to try to kick him off. Then he'd just bounce right back with the rope, shouting, _haha! You can't get rid of me!_

Joey stepped onto the other foot and gripped the leathery leg. Hers had the vine rope, so she could perform grassy rope maintenance for whenever something inevitably went wrong. "Your plan better work," she said. "I don't want to deal with hearing that stupid automaton sing again."

Michael Kahale and Keakora looked disgusted and annoyed. The bird kept glancing at its rider like, _"Now-now is when I eat them right..?"_

Pax decided now was not the time to bring up how badly he could go for some chicken nuggets.

Calex and Kally had the difficult job of preventing Axel and Euna from worrying. If Pax heard one more thing about, "being careful," he was going to nail both of them across the jaw a book titled: _How not to be a Stereotypical Older Sibling_ by Ajax Pax. [footnote 1]

As Michael Kahale scowled and mounted up, Pax grinned over at Joey. He leaned on Kea's leg like a sleazebag would against a bar. "Like old times," he said wistfully. "Just a couple of dudes, hanging above the River Styx. How many bets that this time we won't almost die?"

"I'm not a dude, I'm a girl," Joey huffed and gave him a side glare. With the hand not on the eagle's leg, she fluffed her pink bangs. As if Pax had never wanted pink bangs. He'd let the girls at Camp Othrys do all kinds of things to his hair, but they'd never done pink. They said it wouldn't go well with his yellow eye.

"Did Axel really kidnap you from your dad?" she asked abruptly.

Pax burst out laughing. Yea, it was probably an inappropriate response and if he kept laughing he might need to make a new text acronym: ROFLTOAC—rolls on floor laughing, then off a cliff.

Once he had himself under control, Pax gave her a devilish smile. "Can you imagine anyone keeping me anywhere I don't want to be?"

That MISSING flyer—he didn't realize any of them would be silly enough to believe it. Though he supposed none of them had met his dad. This was just more of Santiago's foolery. Next Santiago would be attaching, _"Have You Seen Me?_ " signs to kittens and handing them as giveaways at local animal shelters.

Before he could have one more person scold him with "Pax, this is serious," the eagle took off. Michael Kahale gave less than three drachma—or, in his case, denarius-about their conversation. They ascended into the darkness, past Lapis's flickering torches, and above the treetops.

Pax clung desperately to the eagle's leg and glanced down to make sure the canister for the river water was still on his belt. For some reason he assumed the eagle's talons would stay still, like good eagle talons, and provide an easy glide. Instead, like a solid game of quicksand or _kill the demigod_ , they flexed and clenched. Maybe Pax shouldn't have insulted Kea so loudly when Kea attacked Axel.

As they ascended, Pax thought the waterfall couldn't be _that_ tall. Maybe Empire State Building tall, but a solid cut off at World Trade Center tall. Even on a giant chicken nugget, the flight felt too long. If they kept going, Pax got the distinct feeling he'd know what it meant to feel direct communication with the deities, meet a few speckles heroes, or run out of oxygen—depending on if you cared for Mayan, Greek, or scientific mythology more.

"Why does your Dad want you back so bad?" Joey shouted. Her voice was almost whisked away by the beating of the wings, the wind, and Pax's internal radio station playing _Fly like an Eagle_. A bit too obvious, but _Free Falling_ was too ominous.

"Because he thinks we're special snowflakes!" Pax shouted back. He wasn't sure that was a conversation he wanted to have with anyone, let alone with Joey Song as they were soaring several dozen stories above a raging waterfall of pain and despondency.

Honestly, Pax didn't want anyone with him up here. Not that he didn't like the attempt at expositional banter with Joey, but he knew there must be more of those broken down automatons. A whole troop had taken down Jack.

He could still remember the crunch of bone, Jack's choked final song, and Flynn's screaming. It happened the day before the Battle of Mount Othrys. Luke—or Kronos at that point—had left them with almost no defenses when he went to take Manhattan. None of them had been worried; afterall, they had Jak-Jak the Plague Bringer, the Leonis Caput, and Krios.

Then Jak-Jak the Plague Bringer died in front of Pax and Flynn, Jason took out Krios, and Pax and Axel fled from the destructive war machine of Rome.

If Flynn had been younger, her face might have been shaped vaguely like Joey's. The thought made Pax shiver and made the wish for solitude stronger. His skin broke into a cold sweat and nausea hit his stomach. Maybe he should tell Joey to cut off some other poor Korean girl's face and wear it for a day, as he'd previously suspected she did every morning to attain perfect make up. Flynn never wore make up. Despite being a daughter of Aphrodite, she'd done everything in her power to make herself conventionally ugly. Pax had thought she was wonderful.

Now, that face gave him nightmares—er—would if Phobetor didn't generously provide him with other fanciful sleep-time films.

Finally, they leveled out above the waterfall and flew along the river. The shriek of the waterfall dulled to a din. Mist stretched across a vast, shallow river, glistening in the moonlight and creating tiny figures, the same way one might see shapes in clouds. Pax could identify an emu juggling hamsters in one formation, but the howl of the wind had become too loud to shout that at Joey. He could barely see the pink of her hair under the shadow of the eagle's wing.

There were cypress trees, oaks, and poplars along the river's edge. It should have felt refreshing and romantic even—a nice place for a date, if your date was into immortality rivers and death and stuff. So…. if you were Will Solace. _Memo to self, turn into Will Solace and invite Nico to a date on the River Styx. See if he affirms suspicions. Laugh when actual Sun Boy has to follow through on date._

Add that on the _reasons to survive this_ list.

Several trees sprouted on unnatural islands in the middle of the rushing water. That didn't look like they should be able to stand in a river like this, but who was he to tell trees where to grow. As spooky as Pax found this, Kea and Michael Kahale seemed to be taking it like a nice evening glide.

The other automatons could be anywhere. That was exactly why he had his plan.

The less people near those other automatons, the better. And Pax hadn't been practicing aerial silks and over-dramatic saves for no reason. He'd told Michael and Kea not to get too close to the water or the ground so Pax would have to make up for the distance between the two. If anyone was going down in a flashy death against automaton spiders while screaming like a child—it was going to be him.

As the eagle flew even with the water, Pax hoped he caught Joey's eye, though he really couldn't be sure with the darkness. He saluted her, then jumped for the vine-rope dangling off the talon she stood on.

Pax was pretty sure he _feel_ her roll her eyes.

He knew the end tied around his waist would catch him, but he'd rather not miscalculate the distance and dunk into the water. Once he'd caught the vine, he used his feet to wind an extra knot around his foot. _Like you're back in the circus,_ he calmed himself. _Hiro will jump in at any second, and you'll have to flip him up so he can stand on you_. Axel and Pax practiced acrobatics, tumbles, and the basics every morning; he wondered if Hiro, Lapis, and Kouta missed it as much as he did.

The knot around his left foot felt secure and maybe a little thorny— _thank you Song sisters_. Pax wrapped the extra vine around his waist once, just in case, then focused on his core muscles as he lowered himself down.

The water looked like tar as it flooded a yard or two under him. He had to wonder, with how oily the River Styx looked, if the goddess Styx herself had a serious acne problem. Pax withdrew the canister from his belt, popped it open, and unwound the vine until he was dangling upside down from his foot, just above the water. Gloves. Gloves would be a good idea for next time he got to swim in the River Styx. He just hoped Kea didn't decide to fly a foot lower for squawks and giggles.

Pax took a deep breath and plunged his hand in.

Have you ever wanted to dip your hand into an active laundry machine full of sand paper, cheese graters, and onion juice? Pax hadn't wanted to either, but—when his fingers made contact with the black liquid—it reaffirmed that decision.

The searing pain lasted a moment, then Pax withdrew the filled canister, popped the lid back on and tightened his core muscles until he could flip up and grab the vine with his hand. Within seconds, he had wrapped and twisted the leafy helpers around himself so he could climb back up.

"Did you get it, show off?" Joey shouted. Or he was pretty sure that's what she said. She might have also said _whooping cough_ , but Pax preferred the former.

He wanted to give her a thumbs up, but that might have ended in him falling and death. Instead, he shouted, "Maybe I just enjoy sticking my hand in the River Styx as a past time!"

The eagle altered directions to fly back towards the waterfall's edge, making Pax swing like he was at the end of a five-year-old's yoyo. They were reapproaching those island trees at the edge of the fall and Pax hoped Kea would gain _a little_ more altitude so he wouldn't simulate a fly smacking into a windshield wiper.

This had gone suspiciously well, so much so, he wasn't the slightest bit surprised when he felt the vine _snap._ If anything, he wanted to nod his head towards fate with a, "Ah, yes, there it is—I was worried you'd forgotten me!"

Instead, he shouted as he felt the air surge around him—

—before abruptly making contact with a tree branch. The branch cracked under him, tiny offshoots scratching along his arms, face, and legs. He twisted and flailed, unsure how many lucky breaks—or lucky branch breaks, in this case—he'd get before he hit the water.

He could hear Joey screaming, "PAX!" helpfully from above.

He snagged a solid limb and had a moment to exhale before he heard the creak of something mechanical.

Something gold rattled along the branch towards him, something with knives for legs. Other glints of metal shined through the branches below. _The automatons_. Pax popped his cheeks. Kea must have flown too close to an island tree. One must have jumped and severed his vine.

Pax thought about Jack's screams for help when these spiders killed him, about how he couldn't help Jack, about how he'd promised Jack to keep Flynn safe, about how Flynn had died the next day at the Battle of Mount Othrys. Pax felt like he needed to write a letter of grievances to the Fates. He wondered if America was at the point where you could sue mythological creatures.

Now he was isolated on a tree island infested with these things, along a waterfall filled with liquidy torment. Couldn't he at least get an island beach with a swim suit episode where he got to see all the girls in bikinis?

Before Pax could withdraw his daggers, the spider lunged at his face.

A feminine war scream tore through the air as Joey Song's feet smashed into it from above. It tumbled off the branch into the water. Joey wobbled, but the tree seemed to bend itself to accommodate for her instability.

Her battlecry made Pax mighty happy to have her on his side of the fight.

As the spiders scurried and flooded along the branches to reach the two of them, the tree itself turned against the automatons. The branches would snap or twist to knock spiders into the water.

Joey had part of the rope-vine in one hand and her blade in the other. When the machines managed enough stability to jump at them, she whipped the vine out, the plant itself twisting unnaturally to avoid the spider's knife and clamp legs so it could snap at the core of the automatons. Her dagger flashed in the moonlight, bashing one that darted through the planty defenses.

"How do we kill these things without your sister's firestorm?" she shrieked.

Pax kicked away one that was clamped to their branch. It tumbled down a tree limb before latching onto another below. Several had fallen into the water, swept away by the current and over the waterfall, but there were at least a dozen of these things.

"We phone in my sister!" Pax shouted back. Though kicking them into the water seemed to be helpful, if they could do it at ten times their current speed.

Time blurred. Pax clambered to stand beside Joey. He didn't have her advantage of having the tree adjust for him, but he'd been on tight ropes and balance beams before. This was just like the Lunatic Mode in the realtime video game of balancing. He tried to keep back-to-back with Joey for better defense but found himself stumbling like a baby satyr trying to get accustomed to his hooves.

He withdrew his daggers and began to parry and kick away any spiders that got close enough for a hug.

He didn't know where Michael Kahale or Keapora had gone. The fog and mist from the waterfall had thickened and Pax had the sickening feeling that the physical geography was _changing_. This pocket of the River Styx was about to hop ship—probably to somewhere nicer like San Ignacio—and Pax would be a little too dead to enjoy the weather.

Just like with Jack, these automatons were running them down. Neither of them had a sandstorm shell to conjure like Lapis and Pax could tell Joey was getting tired. The tree's branches had stopped moving to help them.

"What do you think would be the coolest final words?" Pax shouted at Joey as he slammed his dagger into a spider to knock it out of midair.

Joey grunted. "After we live through this," she snapped, "I'm going to beat the crap out of you and your brother!"

Pax approved. Which was good, because they were about to be overwhelmed.

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I hope you enjoyed the read! We're almost at the end of this book! (Looks like _Blood of a Mayan_ will be about 33-34 chapters long!) For those of you in grade school, good luck with midterms! For those of you in college, good luck with finals! Make sure to reward yourselves with delicious hot chocolate after you've survived all the tests and projects! ^.^ [footnote 2]

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footnotes

1 With a complimentary compendium from Jack Flash ^^

2 For those of you working a full time job… Godspeed my friend. Godspeed.


	22. Ajax: The Quickest Way to Fratricide

Twenty-Two: Ajax

The Quickest Way to Fratricide

In the game of not-dying-by-spiders, Pax would have ranked a measly three out of ten. He'd been doing pretty well on pest control until he pivoted wrong. He was trying to strike down an arachnid. If he weren't an acrobat, he would have said he lost his balance and wobbled. As he was an acrobat, he would have to say he made some wild hand gestures in praise of the Queen of Weasels.

Like any good evil creature, a clamping spider that was scaling up the trunk saw its opportunity.

Joey was too distracted with her ivy whip dance to help.

Pax was in mid-weasley genuflection and knew he didn't have time to right himself before the automaton would—judging by its trajectory—assure Pax could never have children. Which was mortifying—Pax was going to have a whole hoard of tiny girl and boy Paxes that would use their devilish good looks and charm to torment humanity, especially their Uncle Axel.

As Pax became certain that the world would be short a dozen adorable menaces, a golden javelin slammed into the spider and pinned it to the tree trunk.

In that moment, Pax decided whoever threw the javelin could have his brother as a proper thank you for saving his family lineage. That gift may have been a bit generous, considering the Goddess-of-Crying-While-Eating-Ice-Cream wanted Axel, but he could just get a better dowry for Axel since he was a scarcity in high demand.[footnote 1]

A hail of arrows exploded from the fog. The arrows didn't kill the spiders, but the ones in mid-jump ended up taking a swim in the River Styx instead of making it to their targets.

One of those arrows almost impaled Pax. He was waving his arms like a four-year-old pretending to be a butterfly when it flew under one arm and slammed into the tree trunk beside the javelin. There was a rope attached to the back of the arrow that immediately went taut.

Pax grabbed the javelin for balance and grabbed the rope. He ripped the javelin out of the tree and cracked it against the embedded arrow, snapping the arrow in half and throwing the spider clean out of the tree. There could have been Sharknado on the other end of that rope, and he still would still trust it over this tree covered by examples of why Edward Scissor Hands should never breed with the Thing.

Before he could tell Joey to grab hold, the rope tugged Pax off his feet; he went airborne. Pax swung the javelin towards her.

"Hey!" was all Pax managed to yell, really hoping she'd grab it and _not_ get knocked off the tree, get diced up by lots of sharp and pointies, and give the River Styx some extra Korean style seasoning.

Fortunately, Joey caught the javelin. Pax wished he had a Pokeball that worked on humans, so he could shrink Joey down, put her in his pocket, and _not_ have his arm dislocated by the tiny dancer. True, he'd had to hold Hiro and even Axel for performances, but that was usually choreographed.

The fog thinned after seconds of flying and Pax wasn't surprised to see the shape of a giant eagle gliding on the other end of his rope. A little anti-climatic and obvious, but at least it wasn't Sharknado. He just hoped the bird didn't have to use the bathroom any time soon.

As the mist completely cleared and the roar of a waterfall disappeared, Pax blinked. It wasn't just an eagle, but a pegasus flanked by a flock of four eagles. Three of the birds had enormous white satchels clutched in their claws.

They circled back down to the shore. It looked completely different now. The waterfall had vanished with the fog, taking Lapis's flaming arrows with it. Now, in the moonlight, he could make out a calmly gurgling stream and five dim figures below.

Once their pegasus flew close enough to the ground, Pax let go of the rope, naturally without any warning to Joey. They gracefully tumbled onto the ground. Joey managed one last scream as they flopped to a stop. [unnecessary footnote 2]

Axel, Euna, Kally, Merry, and Calex were around them within a second of landing. Pax didn't get why they all looked so relieved: he and Joey were just swallowed up in a location-hoping section of the River Styx with automatons designed to kill the Plague Bringer. That was like Level One difficulty, right?

Pax was surprised when Calex clapped both he and Joey on the back, like they'd just assured the destruction of _Manchester United._ "You made it!" he cheered.

Pax's eyes had no right to water when Axel ruffled his hair the same way Frasco used to after a difficult routine. From the look of it, Kally must have stitched and bandaged Axel's left arm while they played Spider Stompin.

"Good job," Axel said.

Euna was scolding Joey—probably for not leaving Pax to die or the likes. As a coward, he could understand the disdain of self-sacrifice.

For some reason, their words sounded distant. Maybe it was because Pax was too distracted by the new arrivals.

The eagles set down their white satchels and flight No. 1-5 prepared for landing. Once on the ground, the eagle and pegasus riders dismounted.

There was their good ol' Michael Kahale by Keobear. He was at attention as the pegasus rider approached him, a girl with a cloak and a long braid. In a military tone, she sounded like she was giving him a good verbal lashing, probably something like, _"How dare you save those kids! If you'd have let them die, we could have stolen their sweet golden donkey and complimentary ice cream truck!"_

When Pax focused over Axel's shoulder, he could hear her actual words, "Centurion Kahale, you failed to Iris Message back after your initial report for a forest fire—"

 _That_ was Reyna Ramirez.

Pax felt a bubble of happiness in his stomach that Axel was still at his side and not chatting with the praetor. Axel hadn't even _noticed_ the praetor yet, though Axel's nose did crunch like he smelled something familiar and his head twitched. Pax kinda wanted to shove it in Reyna's face: _"Ha, my brother likes me more than you_ ," though she would not appreciate the gravity of the situation and he would likely be attacked by her automaton dogs. There was only one activity he would want to partake in with automatons at the moment and it involved an incinerator.

That's why Pax freaked when he saw the glint of metal flutter out of the woods, like a shoe-sized dragonfly. Those creepy crawlies must have scared him more than he realized, because his first reaction was to grab Axel's arm, try to climb him, and shout, "Kill it! Kill it!"

Before any of them could do much more than jump, the metallic glint landed on Merry's shoulder. Her arm didn't slice off or turn into a tentacle, as Pax half-expected. She barely flinched as she plucked the thing up. "Oh," she laughed, "Axel, you have fan mail."

Axel's smile faded. He gently set Pax down. When she handed it over, Pax realized the contraption was actually two fans tied at the base so they could fly. One fan had what Pax assumed was Axel's name etched into it. When Axel's fingers made contact, the other fan formed lips and a voice boomed out, "—no, the other monkey wrench, you dumb—oh, is this thing on? Hello?"

All seven of them stood and clustered around, Pax using his newly acquired javelin to brace himself.

Merry grinned. "Hello Lord Hephaestus," she called. Joey, Calex, and Kally glanced at each other. Pax was sure Euna would have wanted to look confused too, but she was still frowning at her little sister. Pax understood: he didn't think what gods had to say was important either.

Merry's friendliness seemed to confuse the fan lips. "Erm, hello. Axel..?"

 _Yes, I'm going through puberty and voice changes at age 18. What of it?_ Pax wished he would say.

"Here," Axel called instead.

"Ah, good. Did you get my canister, kid? Your time is up."

Axel clenched his jaw. Not only had Pax distracted Axel from the praetor, but he'd also made him forget his mission. Score for the Pax!

With as much smugness as possible, Pax withdrew the filled canister from his belt. He balled his other hand and nudged it towards Joey. Joey rolled her eyes and gave him a begrudging fist bump.

The pride and excitement in Axel's eyes was going to make Pax melt. If all this emotion kept up, they could probably pour Pax into a mold and freeze him into candy bites. When Axel took the canister, Pax felt the happiness drain. This exchange was the last major step before Axel was ready to "kill and usurp their father" or whatever ominous thing his mother had said. Couldn't his mother give him something other than ominous warnings? Like a Hallmark card that sang _Livin' la Vida Loca_?

Whether Axel was going to get their dad arrested or try to kill him, that meant Axel was one step closer to abandoning Pax at Camp Half-Blood.

"We have it here," Axel beamed.

"Ah, perfect!" The lips broke into a smile. A small chain dropped from the joint between the two fans. Axel hesitated, then hooked the chain to the canister. The canister locked in like a keychain. "Now, as promised, I've got some coordinates for you. However, what you're looking for doesn't want to be found by a lot of people yet, so keep them quiet. The coordinates will appear in your van after sunrise."

Axel frowned. "After sunrise?" he repeated. Pax had heard that tone before. Although Pax didn't remember Axel ever throwing temper tantrums when they were younger, he _did_ remember Axel sneaking out a lot after Frasco directly told him _no_. That was the voice of, _try me and you'll be sorry_.

The lips laughed. "Listen kid, I might know machines better than humans, but you and your ragtag team are almost out of fuel." Pax waited for someone to protest, but not even Joey huffed at the reality. "Relax for a bit. Play ephedrimmos, watch a gladiator match, or do whatever you kids do these days to unwind. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some, uh, vermin to catch."

Before Axel could protest, the lips vanished. The contraption hopped from his hands and fluttered off into the woods. Axel sighed in defeat. Then his nose twitched again and he perked up.

Despite the thought of his eminent separation anxiety, Pax grinned. Axel had recognized a certain someone's scent and Pax could only imagine how Axel's expression might look if he didn't have his Mist mask.

The Romans must have finished their debriefing; Axel's conversation with two fans brought over a small audience, as discussions with inanimate objects tended to bring. Pax was privy to such a problem, especially since his mother liked to show up as inanimate objects and alarm people.

Michael, Reyna, and some other Roman—either new or unimportant as Pax didn't recognize the Asian girl from his days as spymaster and he was WAY too good to forget a face—had come over. Michael's eyes were wide. "Were… you just talking to Lord Vulcan?" he asked.

Pax puffed out his chest. "Yea. What? He's just a god." He loved how much he Romans revered the gods. Pax found it ridiculous, but maybe that was because he was on the Titan's side during the war and got to see Zeus's baby pictures from before he was eaten by Kronos. Pax's eyes drifted back to the eagles and he had to giggle at the white packages on the ground, "Oh Tita—Gods," he quickly corrected in present company, "Are your birds the storks of the mythological world? Is there a baby Chiron in there?!"

Pax never knew where baby mythological creatures came from. He was excited that the mystery might have been fulfilled.

Reyna seemed utterly unamused in his vital understanding of mythological reproduction. He could almost see the checkbox in here head where she marked _idiot_ beside his name.

"It's fire retardant," she answered. Her dark, piercing eyes scanned them as a group. "We got a report from Centurion Kahale about a sprouting fire. If we can catch them early enough, we can stop them from spreading into wildfires. Kahale never sent the mandatory follow-up Iris Message. He informed me of your quest. Next time, be more careful."

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Joey's jaw drop in disbelief. Nothing like almost dying on a quest and having people scold you on your technique.

"We had every intention of properly burning down the forest and the towns nearby," Merry assured Reyna with a cheerful smile.

Like the previous times Pax had been within ten feet of Reyna, he couldn't tell if the twitch in her lip was a concealed smile or a scowl.

Reyna shifted her gaze to Joey and Pax. "There isn't normally a waterfall or a cliff side here. What happened?"

Calex cleared his throat. "You really ought to sort that with Axel. He has all the details on the mission. Joey, Pax, come along. Let's have Kally look over those cuts and bruises."

An excited smirk flashed across Joey's face. She nodded her approval towards Calex, grabbed her sister's arm, and walked back towards the van. Merry bobbed her head, "We need to gossip with Pax about how flashy his sis is anyway," and tugged Kally after them. Calex paused, glaring at Pax.

Like Hades Pax was going with them. Unlike Calex, who obviously had full faith in Axel, Pax knew his brother would act like a proper gentleman and never take advantage of the situation.

Calex looked ready to drag Pax away—which Pax would love to see Calex try—until Axel waved Calex along. As Calex walked back with the others, Pax stuck his tongue out at him. The Son of Desire needed to leave this problem to someone more qualified for the job.

As Pax suspected, Axel gave Reyna a dry, militaristic summary about Hephaestus's quest and the moving section of the River Styx... and could have easily continued into a lecture about the differences between Doric and Ionic columns with the blandness of his voice. During it, Reyna took her javelin back from Pax, and Pax didn't even get to comment that she was allowed to marry his brother.

Before Axel wrapped up with a, _Thanks, though I'd probably die for you regardless of this favor,_ Pax asked, "What about the circus act we agreed to give Kahale?"

Axel's posture stiffened. Although he didn't turn to face Pax, his eyes darted to him with a deadly fury. This was either going to end with Axel owing him for the rest of his life or with Axel breaking Pax in half.

The new Roman looked ready to shake out of her armor in excitement. She was young and a quick glance at her arm's tattoo told Pax she'd just left mother wolf. "Circus act?" she repeated, though silenced when Michael and Reyna glanced at her.

Pax gave them a devilish grin and switched to his salesmen voice. "Yea, I mean, Mike—"

"—Michael—"

"—look at you." Pax gestured to his casual T-shirt and jeans compared to the other fully armored Romans. "You were off duty, right? We wanted to make sure you still got to enjoy your night off and what better way than with a little show?"

Michael looked skeptical, though he didn't immediately turn the idea down. The new recruit looked like she might fall over. "You're really going to perform for us?" she asked.

Pax puffed his chest out again. "Yea, Axel and I used to be circus performers, part of a group called the _Tumbling Six_. It'll be a quick performance, and then you can be back at camp. Unless you've got somewhere really important to be at 3:00 in the morning with a major adrenaline rush."

Michael and the new Roman looked at the praetor.

Reyna was examining Axel's face, deadpan.

Axel froze.

Pax nudged Axel's shoulder, switching to Spanish, " _What better way to show off your flexibility and muscles to a girl, eh_?"

Axel wouldn't look at him. As Pax had hoped, Axel responded in the same language with a growl, " _I'm going to hurt you. A lot._ "

" _If you're too much of a coward to flirt with her using your warm personality, you'll have to impress her with something else. Show her how well you perform,_ " Pax purred.

Axel's cheeks reddened. He coughed and switched back to English to address the Romans. "I'm sorry, my brother is being an idiot, I need to go maim him," he said, gesturing back to the van, "but we can have everything set up in about ten minutes."

Pax fist pumped. It had been a LONG time since they performed for people they knew instead of people on the street. After all, Axel wouldn't be the only one showing off to a girl he liked.

This time, Pax was sure Reyna's facial expression was a slight smirk and not a scowl. "Very well," she said. Michael and the new Roman both smiled at her nod of approval. "Erin, Michael, tell the others we're taking a small break. I'll call Zhang to let him know we handled the fire."

The other two walked over to the eagles, the girl practically skipping. Reyna turned to follow them, but paused to glance back at Axel. There was a moment of hesitation before she warned, in perfect Spanish with the cutest Puerto Rican accent, " _You should know, I'm not easily impressed_ ," and continued to walk after the others.

Axel looked mortified. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them. Pax burst out laughing until Axel grabbed him by the ear and twisted _hard_.

Pax managed to break out of Axel's grasp and sprint back towards the van, screaming, "You can't hurt me! You need me for the performance!"

* * *

Footnotes:

1 This is what Pax demanded I write as his add on note, "Oh, you think I'm joking? Don't think someone won't have to pay me for marrying my brother. He's too good for anyone"

2 And let the beat drop.

* * *

Thanks for reading! :D


	23. Axel: You Wanna Go Punch Stuff?

Twenty Three: Axel

Uh… Do you… Uh… Wanna Go… Punch Stuff or Something? [footnote 1]

* * *

Author's note: This is my last fluffy-ish section for _Blood of a Mayan_ and the last bit I wrote before I snapped out of a nasty spell of writers block. Despite all that, I hope you still enjoy! Something playful before it's all downhill for our heroes and anti-heroes :D

Axel could envision the disgust on Luke's face now. Axel had gone from being a terror of Rome to performing for their amusement. The predicament made him wonder how his brother's head would look on a pike.

This would be the least amount of time Axel had to set up for a show. He raced to the van, head bouncing with ideas on how to destroy his brother's life and which choreography would be the best to impress the praetor of New Rome. Nothing seemed good enough. Axel and Pax had several routines they rotated between in their morning practices, but for Reyna? Had he known he was going to perform for Reyna, he'd have planned for months and still found the final product lacking.

As he ran, Axel stripped off his shirt and started working on his pants. They couldn't waste any time on their clothing switch—he'd have to be ready to throw his costume on as soon as he got to the van.

This made for fun conversation when the Pax brothers threw the van doors open, half-naked.

The other five were clustered around the back, looking over a piece of paper in the middle of the floor. For a second, Axel was scared they'd gotten into the trunk with the helmets, but it was still shut in the corner.

 _Hiro's MISSING flier_ , he realized. That wasn't better.

Kally blushed and Joey joined the sentiment a half-second later. Euna blinked in confusion and Calex choked back a laugh. "Have you two gone bonkers?" he asked.

"Oh my gods! Put some clothes on!" Joey cried, covering her eyes.

Merry gave him a huge grin. "Is this just a Pax boy thing? Are all of you exhibitionists? Because you can go on exhibiting—"

Axel pointed his thumb to the forest. "Get out, I need to get dressed—wait—take these—"

He hopped inside, ignoring the stares or pointed not-stares. He'd have to apologize to all the girls when he was in less of a hurry. He shooed Calex and Euna off the bench on the left, opening the top to reveal Pax's aerial silks, their beat-up costumes they used for street performances, what was left of their glow-in-the-dark face paint, canisters of paraffin, and some balanced knives and torches for juggling.

He withdrew all the juggling utensils and handed them to Euna and Calex. Then he paused, realizing he was about to order them the way he would soldiers in a battle and he didn't have any right in this scenario.

Fortunately, Pax hopped in. "Want to see Axel and I almost kill ourselves doing handsprings and breathing fire?"

At hearing Pax describe their act, Kally seemed to forget Pax was in his boxers and in the midst of rubbing paint onto his face. She perked up and asked, "You're putting on a show? Do you need help setting up?"

"Ah Kally," Merry patted her shoulder. "Your cognitive dissonance in the face of theater is delightful. But Kally and I do actually have experience in this sort of thing if your show needs some tender, techie loving."

Axel smiled. It was nice that they had his back, even in social situations. "You girls are wonderful," he said. Maybe this might work out after all.

* * *

Calex helped them put on their costumes and paint, while Euna and Joey scouted the shoreline—now less River Styxy and more beautifully-California-foresty—for the flattest ground to do their performance. Kally gathered flash lights and glow stick and, after they briefly explained the show to her, she went to set up their "stage." They used Merry' jacket to provide music, since the van couldn't get through the forest to the shoreline.

The Roman eagles and pegasus all perched along various branches ominously. Well, the pegasus ruined the ominous image. While walking over, Pax laughed when he saw the horse, apparently named Guido, trying to balance beside the resting birds.

Merry set up their sleeping bags as seats for the attendants and passed out their spare blankets for protection against the cold. It _was_ cold. Now that they'd finished up the mission, Axel noticed the November breeze that trickled through the forest, making tree limbs groan. He was freezing, with little more on than a loincloth, belt, anklets, bracelets, and jaguar patterned paint. Pax's teeth actively jittered; his costume was similar but with additional feathers that Pax had colorfully painted for his Pax pride.

Axel knew they'd be thankful for the chill once they started.

Whenever they sent money and cards to their _chiich_ , Frasco used to tell them never to show her pictures of their performance costumes. Axel knew why: the worst argument Frasco had with their grandmother was when she found out he was posing as a Mayan eagle warrior so tourists could take pictures of him at _Nim Li Punit_ , the archaeological site. Frasco had gestured at their shack and snarled that they needed the money. _Chiich_ threw her sandals at him, gestured at his clothing and snarled that he needed some respect.

Axel shook his head. These were nothing like the traditional garb of their Deer Dance or Cortez Dance costumes. Axel wondered, since it was November, if they were holding elections for the alcalde in their home town or if that system had been abolished since they'd left Belize. [footnote 2]

While they walked towards their "stage," Pax seemed to read his mind. "I hope _Chiich_ is okay. Do you think Dad still visits her and Thiago?"

Axel had no delusions that Santiago was still visiting her and her… boyfriend? Hadn't they gotten married? He still remembered their first real trip back to Belize, when Santiago told _Chiich_ that her other son and daughter-in-law had insulted the wrong people and been killed. Axel and his siblings had to stand in silent horror as she cried into the murderer's arms.

"I'm sure they still get company," Axel said. "You got the smoke bomb ready?"

"Last one," Pax held it up in one hand. Axel frowned. They'd been running low on supplies without Alabaster around. They'd used their last flashbang the first time they met Kally. He hoped Pax still had enough poisons and sleep serum to get them by until… until they found some way to replace them. "Ready to use it to impress some girls and be sad we don't have it during a fight?" Pax asked.

Axel exhaled. He didn't often get nervous before a show, especially one that wouldn't be more than five minutes. Normally he was just excited. In the moonlight, he examined Pax. His little brother had fake fangs on with a feathered headdress. Axel reached up to his face and tore his Mist mask off so he matched Pax. "Let's go."

* * *

When they were little, Kouta used to act as their troop's herald. Most performers had stage names. Christine Dwayne wasn't the best name for a contortionist, so theirs went by Natasha Romanov. Yet, Frasco used their real names for their performances, something that awed Axel when he learned they were on the run from Santiago.

The Romans and their friends were gathered near the shore line.

Merry started the music when she heard Axel's low whistle.

When Pax rolled the smoke bomb in front of where Kally has positioned the lights, Axel could imagine Kouta's announcer voice, one Pax had been trying to mimic for years, _"Please welcome two of the Tumbling Six—Axel and Ajax Pax!"_

* * *

Calex: A Quick Assist

Originally, Calex planned to keep careful tabs on Reyna's reactions so he could tease Axel about it later. The bloke was absolutely mad about her. If there was one thing Calex probably had in common with his godly father, it was the joy felt when watching two idiots fall mad for each other.

This had been a _long_ day and Calex was excited to relax, see Pax act like a wanker where Calex wouldn't have to hit him for it, see Merry and Kally show off their techie skills, and hang out with one of the heroes from the Second Giant's War. He wanted to get his mind off things and he hoped this would suffice. Though he couldn't remember the last time he _didn't_ want to get his mind off things.

He'd met his real Dad and Calex still wasn't sure what he thought of Eros. It made everything feel more surreal and more like _Calex Rupin McKenzie_ was some cinema actor that he was watching from the audience. He could envision his little sister, Gretchen, watching some drama on the tele, _"And here's where his dad reflects on the love of his dead mum! How tragic!"_

Calex made sure Reyna would have the center seat, but her troops already seemed to expect that. He took a seat between Merry and Euna. Once set up, Merry was on alert to keep the two groups cordial, forcing Kally into conversations with Michael Kahale and a girl named Erin.

When the smoke bomb went off, everyone went silent.

In the background, Merry's jacket pumped out an ominous, brooding tone.

The green mist filled the clearing that Joey and Euna had found for their mates. Something rolled into the center: Pax—colorful feathers fluttering from his headdress, necklace, belt and anklets—unfolded from the roll into and the splits. Although the motion didn't bother Pax, Calex winced at the thought of how much that could hurt the crown jewels.

Kally had done an excellent job positioning the lights. The smoke twisted through the beams of the flashlights and rays of moonlight. It shadowed Pax enough to give a mysterious feel while still letting his glow-in-the-dark paint highlight parts of his face and chest.

Seconds later, Axel lunged out of the mist behind Pax.

At first, Calex thought Axel was going to clobber him, maybe giving them more of a comedy skit instead of an acrobatics performance. Instead, Axel's hands planted on Pax's shoulders like a springboard. He did a front flip, landing in a crouch only a meter from the audience.

Axel looked terrifying and awesome. Especially with the green mist swirling around, his golden contacts gleamed wickedly. The jaguar spots they'd painted all over his body glowed the same way Pax's feathers did. In place of a headdress on Axel's head, they'd thematically put two triangular ears. He grinned, revealing rows of jagged teeth. Axel released a deep, throaty snarl at the audience.

Erin, the youngest recruit who had been talking to Kally, squeaked. No one else responded, but one of the other recruits shoved Erin playfully.

Pax crept to his feet, snuck around behind Axel, and pulled something from Axel's belt—a flower.

Moving low to the ground, like an awkwardly hobbled goblin, Pax snuck up beside Kally. She had the emergency flashlights available, only a few feet from Reyna. Although Calex couldn't quite see her face, since the light shined the other way, she looked panicked. Pax must have neglected to tell her this part of the show.

Pax held the flower out to her.

Axel stood up straight, curiously patted his back, then scowled, like he'd just noticed the missing flower.

He turned and dove at Pax's knees.

Pax hopped up, pushing Axel into the dirt in front of Kally, and landed behind his downed brother.

Axel shook his head, sat up, and glared over his shoulder to search for Pax. Around the time he might have seen him, Pax jumped onto Axel's shoulders.

Calex expected Pax to stumble off, but he kept his balance perfectly. Axel searched past Pax's calves, like he didn't realize his brother was standing on him. Above Axel, Pax covered an exaggerated yawn, pointed down at Axel, and shrugged, like to say _can you believe this bloke?_

Axel scratched his head. While he looked puzzled, Pax leaned down. He planted one hand on Axel's head and planted the other on the hand Axel was using to scratch his head.

At first, Calex figured this was going to be a cute little show. Something to make them all giggle but nothing to have them fretting over. Then Pax slowly lifted his feet off Axel's shoulders, shifting all of his weight into a hand stand, using his brother's head as the stand.

A collective gasp came from the crowd. Kally covered her mouth. From what Calex could see in the dim lighting, Reyna cracked a smile.

Pax spread his legs into an upside down split. Slowly he released Axel's raised arm so Pax could use that hand for further balance, putting all of his weight onto the hand on Axel's head.

Calex already thought Pax was a lunatic for doing that without a safety net or harness. Axel made it worse when he stood up.

The strain must have been intense, but Axel made his back as straight as possible and rose slowly, carefully, to his feet.

Merry, Joey, and a few Romans clapped.

Axel cautiously, slowly spun to where Pax had been standing, his brother still in a headstand-split above him. Like he couldn't feel the demigod balancing on his head, Axel shrugged at the crowd in utter confusion.

Axel rubbed the back of his neck, paused to realize something was amiss, then grabbed Pax's hand. He slowly scowled, raising his other hand to investigate. Pax took hold of both Axel's hands, balancing on that instead, so Axel could look up and see the sheepish grin on Pax's face. A nice little, _How do you do there. I knicked your flower._

They leaned forward. Calex tensed, wondering if Kally would need a quick lesson in _how to fix broken spines with three plasters or less_ but they rolled into a two man somersault, like a human windmill.

When they landed, Pax several feet from Axel, Axel snatched the juggling knives from the corner of the clearing. In a faux rage—though, honestly with Pax, Axel might really want to bash his head in with a knife—Axel threw the blades at Pax.

Pax caught one, then two. He gave Axel a cocky grin and started to juggle them.

Axel glared, picked up three knives, and juggled those, keeping his scowl on Pax in the best, _you're not the only one who can do this_.

The younger huffed, picked up two more and, added them to his flashing rotation of blades. The knives flew higher into the air with each additional blade.

Axel raised his chin. He grabbed the last knife on the ground with his toes and tossed it up.

Now even with Pax at four blades, Axel grinned at his little brother.

Calex had stopped paying proper attention to Reyna's reactions. Like the rest of them, he was enraptured in the fun of the performance. They'd all seen Pax and Axel fight, but this was such a different application of their skills.

Pax stopped in his juggling to admire Axel's technique. He snickered and looked to the audience. While aiming the weapon at Axel, he waggled his eyebrows, then tossed another blade into Axel's mix.

Naturally, Axel caught it. With the fifth blade added, Axel kept his gaze firmly in the air. Calex couldn't tell how much of Axel's frantic hopping around to keep up with the blades was a stage performance and how much of it could actually end in losing an eye. From their leader's normally stoic expressions and for survival for the crowd, he hoped the bloke was in full control.

Once Axel was fully distracted, Pax snuck up behind him to snag another flower from Axel's belt.

Axel threw the knives particularly high. He patted his waist to find the flower. For a split second, he scowled at Pax.

Then both brothers looked up, gulped, and frantically ran in circles to dodge the raining blades. Pax screamed and waved his hands in proper Pax fashion.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The combination of acrobatic, humor, and cute story plot left the audience in a fit. By the time Axel had snatched up an unlit torch to chase down Pax, even Reyna was chuckling.

Calex soaked up the merriment. This past month had been one of the worst in his life. Here he was, with a group of blokes who had been through their own tribulations and still remembered how to smile. He hoped it was all as real as it felt.

Axel lit the torch with his lighter and spit into it. The flame flickered turquoise and roared twice its size.

A choked scream beside Calex crushed some of his joy.

At first, Calex thought he might need to remind the Romans that his mates said the pyrotechnics would be under control. But the sound came from Euna's direction.

The daughter of Demeter looked confused, staring over at her sister.

Joey gripped her sheathed sword. Her eyes were wide. Her skin had gone sickly pale in the eerie, oceanic light.

By the time Calex looked up, Axel had picked up the canister of paraffin off the ground, took a swig, and exhaled a stream of fire towards Pax. Pax hit the dirt by the shoreline and a puff of turquoise flame tunneled over his head and above the river.

Joey cowered against her sister. Maybe the incident with the tree had shaken up their youngest more than she let on.

Then Calex remembered what she said that morning about her nightmares: _"I'm drowning in turquoise fire_."

He'd completely forgotten until now.

Calex cycled through ways to stop that segment of the show, but Axel had already moved on. Now he and Pax were in some sort of epic sword chase. Axel had his steel sword in hand, chasing after Pax who was armed with his bronze dagger. They were doing various front flips, side flips, back flips, and other odd air contortions to avoid the other's strikes.

The music was winding down when Pax dropped the two flowers from his belt while he was running away. The flowers plopped directly between them.

Both Axel and Pax raced to pick up the flowers, tripped—

—and impaled into the other's sword.

Erin gasped. Kally put a hand to her mouth.

It _looked_ real. Calex could clearly see the tip of bronze through Axel's back and the extension of steel through Pax's. There was a pause, then both boys collapsed.

Calex tensed until Pax made an over-dramatic, "BLARG!" sound.

 _Stupid prick._

Calex figured they would hop back up… but Axel and Pax continued to lay there.

One of the Romans shuffled.

Calex hadn't remembered seeing any blood. This must have been part of the act, right?

The November breeze made the trees rustle. Calex could see Joey put her sword hesitantly down.

Euna broke first, "Uh… guys?"

Axel and Pax sprang back to their feet. They unsheathed their swords from the each other's guts, and took sweeping bows.

Everyone burst into applause. Except Joey. Calex could tell she was terrified.

He hadn't made the connection when Axel used turquoise fire to fend off the eagle. They'd never seen him use that power before. Why had he hidden it? Now, Calex had to wonder how much Axel might have to do with Joey's premonition.

* * *

Axel: Uh… Do you… Uh… Wanna Go… Punch Stuff or Something? (continued)

* * *

Despite how exhausted Pax must have been, he skipped all the way back to the van. Axel couldn't blame him; they nailed that performance. Other than the general positivity, applause, disbelief, and laughter, they didn't get any specific person's reaction yet. Pax immediately excused them to put their stuff away at the van, requesting Merry, Kally, Euna, Joey, and Calex stay with the Romans for a minute. Pax knew Axel would feel more comfortable talking with his costume off and his mask on.

As they put away their equipment, Pax jabbered about having their own circus one day. It made Axel smile. Today had been an overall success. He may have started it off by getting kidnapped in a shower of sun rays, but he'd have the coordinates to Leo Valdez in the morning, likely only a few hours away.

Pax must have been in an incredibly good mood as well, babbling, "And maybe we could have Kally be in charge of lights, assuming she doesn't kill or blind all the patrons with one of those solar flares—" He crawled into the front, so he could turn on the van's music. Although Pax normally teased Axel for it, he put on what Pax had labeled as "Axel's Sexy Spanish Mix," a combo of classics from Shakira to Enrique Iglesias. _Too much soppy, not enough metal,_ Pax normally complained.

Axel was ready for Pax to pop up, with Baller on one shoulder and an unconscious Hunnie in hand, for a feigned salsa. When they got back to camp, they'd have to see if Lou Ellen could heal Hunnie, though he doubted she was powerful enough for it.

But then Pax went silent and disappeared behind the passenger seat.

Although the silence felt uncomfortable compared to Pax's usual nonstop banter, Axel assumed his little brother was flipping through the pictures in their iPod to find an Orpheus Metal song.

The smell of Sprite stung Axel's nostrils as he flushed the paraffin out of his mouth with a can from the back. Axel slipped his pants on, buckled his belt, and rubbed his Mist mask onto his face. He ached from the performance and needed to stretch. They hadn't stretched properly before and were going to feel it in the morning.

He waited for Pax to jump out. When he didn't, Axel picked a steel machete off the wall, frowning.

With Ricky Martin singing, " _Si dios, puso la manzana fue para morder—_ " [footnote 3] so loud, Axel couldn't hear if Pax was moving around or if something had grabbed him—

Until he heard crunch of a footstep and the soft clank of armor behind him.

Axel whirled, swinging his machete at the intruder—

—and clashing it into a golden javelin.

Axel almost dropped his blade in surprise.

Reyna had taken a defensive stance to ward off his attack. From the skepticism in her expression, she must have intentionally made a lot of noise when approaching so he'd know she _wasn't_ sneaking up on them and _wasn't_ about to attack.

Axel found himself thanking every Titan he ever respected for the lucky fact that she had her javelin out.

He lowered his machete, puffing up his cheeks and popping them. Quickly, he straightened his posture and gave a slight bow. "My apologies Praetor. I did not realize it was you."

Reyna withdrew her javelin. Her eyes flicked behind him, to the contents of the van. Although Axel knew all evidence of his affiliation with Kronos was tucked away, he had to resist the urge to check.

"Always ready for battle?" she asked.

Axel wasn't sure if she was referring to him or to the weapons in the van. He also wasn't sure if the comment was supposed to be scathing or comforting until he saw a slight crinkle around her eyes. Just one leader to another.

"Preparedness is wisdom. Without it, hope is foolery," he said, rising from his slight bow. _Yea, lecture the Praetor of Rome on battle prep. Might as well tell her to shine her armor._ Axel became painfully aware that his shirt was still in the van. He really hoped he'd gotten all the paint off his body.

"Thank you for performing for my troops," Reyna said.

Axel relaxed a little. He hadn't been sure what she'd come over for. "Thank you for saving mine," he responded. Had she and the others not shown up, he'd probably never have seen his brother again. There was no way he could properly thank her for that.

She brushed it off and Axel knew from the look on her face that such an act was routine. She gestured at the pile of circus gear. "Where did you learn?"

Axel hesitated.

This was the second time Reyna had been near him outside of a battle and definitely the only time alone—excluding his brother who was assuredly spying from the front of the van. The vehicle's light mixed with the moonlight to highlight sectors of her braid, the ridges of her eyebrows and cheeks, her lips, and the golden gleam of her armor against her dark cloak. As Ricky Martin's voice sang out, " _Una mordidita, Una mordidita,_ " Axel felt a pang in his chest. [footnote 4]

He turned to hop into the van. As he looked for his shirt, he caught sight of Pax, ducked behind the passenger seat, like Axel expected. Pax gave him a thumbs up and a dumb grin. Baller sat on Pax's head, cocking his head to the side as though to mimic Pax. Axel mouthed, _I'm going to kill you_ , and pulled a clean-ish shirt off the front seat. He glanced at the script on it. The front said, _When in Rome_... and—in small print—the back enlisted: _enjoy corruption, love your slaves, overspend, and get crushed by barbarians that are superior to your "civilization."_

A good conversation starter.

As Axel slipped it on, he said, "In my home village, there's a dance called the Deer Dance and the Protestant missionaries—" Axel cut himself off. He didn't need to give Reyna a history lecture about the conflict going on between the Catholic Maya and the Protestant converts that had decided their cultural heritage was "heathen." He missed the sound of the marimba and the smell of burning copal, but she probably wouldn't be concerned with that.

"My uncle, Frasco, wanted to revive the dances," he continued and turned back to face her. "Through that, he realized he wanted to be a performer, which lead to the circus where he, um, enlisted me, my siblings, and my mom. So he taught us."

He remembered how Pax always said other children fantasized over joining the circus. "Would you have wanted to run away to the circus as a child?" he asked, glad for a shift in topic.

Reyna cracked a wry smile. "I joined my own circus. Mine was pirate themed."

The question had been superficial. When Mercedes and Pax were spying on the Romans, looking for weak links to bribe or assassinate their praetors and senators, Axel learned all about Reyna's time aboard the Black Pearl and at CC's spa. It felt a lot less creepy hearing it from her mouth than from his little brother at a war council.

Axel walked back to the edge of the van and propped his arms against the top of the doorframe. He wanted to invite her in. Maybe sit beside her on one of the benches to talk battle strategy or hear what she thought about fawn unemployment, but there was the threat of her seeing Pax or something that revealed them as traitors to Rome. Worst of all, they might actually get along. Everything would be so much easier if their personalities clashed.

"So, the non-Greek, non-Roman demigod group you and your brother joined was a circus?" she asked.

He laughed. She had a sharp memory from their last conversation. "No, that came later. Why? Are there pirates in Rome to make that yours?"

"More than you might suspect." Reyan's gaze drifted past him, further into the van, and Axel swore he'd murder Pax if his little brother was pulling something. He had the horrifying thought that Pax was writing her notes like _date my brother_ and _our astrology is cooler than yours_ , even if the latter was totally true. For once, he had to thank fate that his brother was illiterate.

"Do you kill many birds with that thing?" she asked suddenly.

Axel turned around and was relieved to realize she was talking about his boomerang and throwing stick. He pulled them off the weapon's wall and hopped down beside her. Neither had been touched much since he'd joined Kronos's army, other than to be polished. The returning boomerang was carved bone and curved, in a way that made Frasco mock it as an "Australian souvenir." The brilliant paint had faded with time. The throwing stick was much larger, wooden, and barely curved. After a moment's hesitation, he handed them to her.

She set her javelin against the van to examine the boomerang first.

"I haven't really used them since Ares cursed me," he said. Hurriedly, he added, "You're really only supposed to use the returning boomerang to scare birds out of fields or lake. There's a technique to throw—"

Reyna turned slightly toward the wind, pinch the boomerang in a cradle grip, stepped forward with her left foot, and threw it nearly vertically with the ground.

Axel almost shrieked. That boomerang meant a lot to him.

But the boomerang missed the tree branches, riding along the wind outward to the right, disappearing, then returning on the left.

Axel's first instinct was to catch it out of the air. First time boomerang throwers often miscalculated and would get hit in the face when they tried to catch it. But, if he touched it in action, the painted bone might break under Ares's curse.

Reyna flawlessly snatched the boomerang out of the air before he could decide to act. She turned back towards him, admiring the painting on the bone.

Axel swallowed. His prior terror had definitely faded to something else. "I see you've thrown before," he said, trying to think of something else to say. All his brain could encourage him to say was, _that was hotter than anything I've seen Aphrodite do and… trust me, she kidnaps me on forced dates every night._

Reyna shook her head. "No. We don't exactly have an abundance of boomerangs in Rome and I would have no use for one in combat." She glanced up at him and chuckled at his expression. "My mother is Bellona. Weapons are kinda my thing." Reyna handed it back to him. Something about her movement made him think this was payback for all the showing off he'd done earlier.

"No kidding," he managed.

They were standing close, maybe a foot apart. _You've been this close to her before—closer even,_ he chided himself. They'd fought, gladius to gladius, when the children of Hecate and the Sabotage Unit ambushed the Roman army. This was different though. The smell of grease, metal, and leather was still there, but his nose had cleared up enough to detect the sweetness of her shampoo. Although Axel loved the practicality of her braid, he wondered what she would look like with her hair down.

"Where'd you get it from?" she asked.

Axel frowned, setting the boomerang back into its wall mount. "An heirloom from my mother's tribe. Santiago… my birth father—he let her keep it when he abduc—"

He clenched his jaw and looked away. There was no easier way to simplify it, but he didn't feel right telling Reyna Nilley's story. That would mean talking about how Frasco fell in love with Nilley after Axel was born, about how Frasco tried to save all of them from Santiago. That story deserved more than a few sentences. Besides, Reyna had come to thank him for his performance, not hear his life story.

"When he took her from Australia," he finally ended. "She never talked much about her culture or her home. I think it hurt her too much to talk about it." Axel shrugged, relaxed his jaw, and sighed. "Santiago let me keep them after Nilley died."

Reyna seemed to understand he wasn't looking for sympathy. When he glanced back up at her, he found her dark eyes examining his face. "That is an honorable heirloom," she said.

Then Reyna stiffened.

Axel snatched the machete from the van and searched around. He didn't see anything that should have alarmed her.

"You're not a demigod," she stated.

Axel froze. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them, thinking about what he'd just blathered about his parents.

"It's complicated," he said. With his birth features… and what Kronos and Hecate did to him… _I don't know what I am._

For once, Axel wanted to give her an honest answer. He wished it was as generic as one of those stupid racial forms you had to fill out. _Are you a half-blood, monster, mortal, or other?_ He remembered the look of confusion the first time he read one out to Pax and Pax wanted to put a plus sign between Caucasian and Latino. _Mortal and monster..?5_

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, an expression that made Axel's stomach plummet. Of course, she was a leader. A non-demigod would seem a weakness to an army's ranks.

The slight breeze tousled her braid and cloak. Reyna withdrew a knife from a sheath on her plate armor. The motion made Axel reposition his machete, but she just twirled the blade absently. Those dark eyes bore into him and Axel felt like she was looking for something wrong, maybe some deforming acne scars or tattoos of Donald Trump's face.

Axel set his sword down. He remembered how indifferent Luke's troops were to his parentage. They accepted anyone regardless of whether they were mortal, half-blood, monster, or a legacy. In such a mismatch of recruits, everything was based off ability, not lineage.

He never thought he'd be close enough to Reyna to consider this conversation. He didn't know her well enough to say—

 _ **We know her in a way few others could. We met her in battle; we strategized for her downfall; we knew her scent before we saw her face, we admired her bravery and innovation before we knew she was a woman; we're the monster in her nightmares when she dreams of soldiers she could not save—**_

 _Shut up!_ Axel snarled at the voice of the Leonis Caput. Axel felt himself start to sweat and shake. He tried to pretend it was from the cold.

"Is there a problem Praetor?" he asked while folding his arms and leaning back against the van's door frame. The chill of the van's metal forced him to focus. He hoped Reyna couldn't tell as he counted his breaths. "You're acting like you've never seen a non-demigod before. Not everyone with fangs is prone to bite."

He could hear the Leonis Caput's humming, guttural laugh like an echo of thunder.

"The Ares Cabin might disagree with you," Reyna said.

That was the first time they met after the Titan war—beating up most of the Ares cabin. Axel drowned out the gurgles of the monster inside him with that memory. He concentrated on the sweetness of Reyna's shampoo, on the muscles in her forearm as she spun the blade—tip down—along the edge of the van's door frame—

Along _his_ doorframe.

"Hey," he said.

Axel reflexively pinched her palm and twisted it into a wrist lock. She didn't drop the blade but her grip loosened.

For a split second, he could see her raise an amused eyebrow. Her dark eyes blazed. He spent a second too long staring at those eyes.

Her free hand grabbed his forearm. She twisted his arm outward and down. Then she pulled. The motion put strain on Axel's ligaments, forcing him to bend his shoulder down towards the ground and towards her, knocking him off balance. This was a basic arm bar, intended to leave his arm pinned behind his back. She was already a quarter through twisting his arm up against his spine, stepping behind him to gain more control. Axel knew, if she finished, there was no way he'd get out.

 _Time for a practice bout_ , he mused.

He kicked backwards at the back of her knee.

Reyna released him.

Instead of tripping like he had hoped she would do, Reyna stepped forward to gain her balance and pivoted. Before he could recover, she'd used her momentum to slam him into the van's open door.

Her knife blade pressed firmly against his neck. Her other hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, winding it once to tighten the cloth. Axel knew that move. She was preparing to torque the material into a noose if he managed to—somehow—disarm her knife.

She smirked.

Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. The Leonis Caput wasn't talking anymore. Strangely, with Reyna's knife at his throat, her same elbow digging into his collarbone, and her other hand positioned to choke him with his own shirt, Axel could almost forget all his prior anxiety. He didn't even care that she'd scratched the edge of his van. Their faces weren't even that close—Reyna knew better than to give him room for headbutting if he somehow got the knife from his neck, but… if that knife wasn't there, he'd be tempted to kiss her. And probably get seriously injured. That didn't decrease the temptation.

"You seem distracted," Reyna said, pulling him closer by his shirt.

 _Definitely distracted_ , he had to admit. Definitely fought as well against her as Ares did against Percy: embarrassingly.

He could have pointed out that the group hadn't slept much, or that they'd been doing the quest version of suicide sprints all day. Those weren't valid excuses.

Instead, he said something much dumber, "Strong women do that to me." As he said it, he could feel his cheeks burn. But she had heard his and Pax's conversation in Spanish. He'd never been in a relationship before, but—if they were going to play this game—he wanted his intentions clear. "Maybe we should have a real match. Loser buys winner hot chocolate," he suggested, moving as little as possible to avoid an accidental slit jugular.

Her gaze narrowed. She ignored his question. "Are you a mortal? Or a legacy?"

Axel swallowed. "That sounds like a conversation I wouldn't have with a mere acquaintance."

After another moment, her expression softened. The alteration was odd to watch, like someone had been teaching Reyna to relax and the idea of relaxing was uncomfortable and foreign.

She withdrew her knife and released his shirt. "What are you doing after this quest?" she asked while sheathing her blade. "Rome could probably use a visit from some circus performers."

Axel rubbed his throat and shrugged like his crush as of several years _hadn't_ just sort of agreed to go on a date and hadn't just completely owned him in a fight. "I might drop by if you'll show me around." He'd seen Rome before. He, Pax, and Alabaster snuck through the Labyrinth to assassinate members of the senate, but he was sure the view was much nicer when you weren't on business or covered in blood.

 _Honey_ , Axel suddenly realized. _Her hair smells like honey._

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "You think you deserve a private tour from the praetor?"

Axel hoped he hadn't gone too far with the suggestion. Though, if he had, he was pretty sure his audience with the praetor would be over or her knife would be sheathed somewhere else. "Depends on how the match goes and what you think afterwards, Praetor _Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano_." He didn't know why he said it or why he switched on his accent, but the sound of her full name rolled off his tongue like chocolate syrup, slow and sweet.

Although Reyna looked like she wanted to be annoyed, she fought to keep her smile from growing. He'd said something right. Reyna picked up her javelin. "Keep impressing me and we'll see how private it gets," she said and walked back towards the others.

If possible, the temperature of Axel's cheeks may have doubled. If he wasn't careful, they might melt off. All he had to do was wait until Reyna was out of sight, then he could sit down and have a heart attack. That's why he froze when she paused and glanced over her shoulder at him.

"I like straight forward people, Axel Pax," she said. "Deception wastes time and decreases efficiency. Next time I see you, reconsider what you wear. Especially around someone who grew up under the tutelage of a sorceress."

At first, he thought she was referencing his _When in Rome_ shirt. As she said _sorceress_ , Axel felt the Mist around his face and fingers cracking. In a panic, he glanced down. His short, white claws blurred into view, along with the obsidian blades he kept strapped to his forearm. If Axel hadn't promised himself he'd never beg, he'd be screaming, _No, no, no—stop!_

When his eyes darted up to see Reyna's reaction, he found her cloak billowing behind her as she calmly strode into the forest. She hadn't stayed to see.

Axel collapsed and sat on the edge of his van, popping his cheeks. He felt weak and nauseous. Was that what love was supposed to feel like? Maybe he _should_ Iris Message Thalia and ask if they were taking male applicants.

Besides, what was he thinking? With the intel Pax and Mercedes had gathered on Reyna, he _knew_ she'd lived with Circe before Rome. Of course she could detect illusion magic.

And he couldn't openly go to Rome. From what Nico said, the spirits of the Roman soldiers he'd killed were following him. The Lares would be sure to detect that, assuming the Little Tiber didn't try to kill him on entry. Even if he did sneak in, maybe through the Labyrinth, he shouldn't pursue Reyna. She deserved to be with an accredited hero that could openly act as her partner, like—a bitter taste hit his mouth—Jason Grace or Percy Jackson. Not a fallen general circus freak.

The van shook as Pax hopped to sit beside his brother. Warmth encompassed Axel when Pax plopped his surplus army jacket onto his shoulders. Then Pax hunched into his own duster jacket, kicking his combat boots back and forth under the van. A dart was perched carefully between two of his fingers.

Axel put the jacket on and began checking the pockets. He needed a smoke.

Pax handed him a stick of gum. "I thought I was going to have end your conversation early," he said, tapping his dart against the floor of the van.

"We were just flirting," Axel grumbled, unhappily popping the gum into his mouth.

"She had a knife to your throat."

Axel considered it for a moment before repeating, "Flirting."

Pax's yellow eye twinkled in the moonlight. "I have a PhD in both cuddles and in weirdness and, I'm sorry sir, but you've been diagnosed with definitive weirdness and need to seek out more cuddles from the love of your life. And less knives."

Axel sighed. "You turned into Kally's brother's boyfriend to make out with her."

"At least I haven't done it the other way around yet," Pax said with a grin. They stared at the sky. Axel frowned; Chak Ek', or Venus, would be too close to the sun to appear at dawn for this month. Pax shifted to pull Hunnie out of a pocket in his jacket and pet the unconscious weasel. Baller popped out of his opposite sleeve to curl up with his companion. "Axel, do you think we might need therapy?" Pax asked.

"Na," Axel said. "I think we're well adjusted." _All things considered._

"Do you think your little brother deserves a hug for scoring you the most dangerous date you'll ever go on—assuming you ever go on another," Pax asked.

Axel sighed again and wrapped one arm around his brother—so he could pinch his ear.

" _Aye!_ " Pax cried. "I helped you—"

"That was a huge gamble—"

"You don't take enough risks!"

"You're too reckless—"

As they bickered, Axel felt some energy return to him. They would to get the sleeping bags from the clearing and tell the others it was okay to come back to the van. Everyone needed to get some sleep. They had a _huge_ day ahead of them tomorrow.

Despite his excitement at finally getting the last item he needed for his personal quest and getting a future sparring date with Reyna, Axel felt his mood diminish as quickly as it had risen. After what he was going to do with Leo Valdez, Reyna would never want him. If his new friends found out and fully understood, they would start to call him an enemy instead of a leader.

* * *

I hope all of you have a Happy Christmas/ Hannakkah/ Kwanza/Late Yule/Solstice! In general, happy holidays :D

* * *

Here's a link to an amazing commission that Emiett did of Axel trying to talk to Reyna and dying on the inside as he screws up more and more of the conversation +a character sketch. Her character sketch is what gave this chapter its name XD (Other character is from my friend Aka Mel's awesome story—a magic user named William who is hilarious!) post/154034543990/emiett-these-are-my-last-two-commissions-axel

* * *

Footnotes:

1 Thank you Emiett for inspiring this chapter title. Her illustration of it will be linked below. ^.^

2 Mayan mandate of the government, complete authority for the Mopan Maya.

3 _If God put the apple there for the biting…_

4 _A little bite, a little bite/a nibble, a nibble_

5 watch?v=SdbEMBmzo2U


	24. Kal: Leo and I Compare Notes

Twenty-Four: Kalypso

Leo Valdez and I Compare Notes from Book One

* * *

The coordinates for Leo Valdez's location appeared around 6:19 in the morning. Kally knew this because that was when Pax decided to do a very poor imitation of a rooster caw. She wished he had a blow horn instead. That would have been less annoying. Or—even better—that they had a gag.

This was worse than the _wakey, wakey work campers!_ song they played at her Catholic "volunteer" camp in the mornings. Mostly because Pax felt the need to race back and forth across their sleeping bags to emphasize the caw.

Everyone dragged themselves out of bed.

Kally was used to the circadian rhythm's version of suicide sprints from drama club, where she _maybe_ slept three hours before the last rehearsal, then kept going for each performance their school put on and squished a soccer game before the matinee. Merry was used to it too, but that didn't stop her from tripping Pax with a grape vine when he raced past her bed.

The Romans had left shortly after the Pax Show the night before, after Reyna went to talk to the Pax brothers under Calex's recommendation. Kally meant to ask how that went.

Axel went around distributing beef jerky and what Kally could only hope was cleaned river water. Those boys had to have water-cleansing tablets with them, right? Merry huffed at him and waved off the jerky. "Do you have anything else a little less bovine?" she asked.

Pax pulled some grass from the ground and piled it into her lap. "You called for bovine?"

Merry gave him a playful glare that Kally recognized from the times Merry had publicly humiliated and shamed popular kids at their old school. "You're already on my list for insulting the sounds of nature this morning."

"Everyone up!" Axel's call interrupted their conversation. He was half-way through rolling up Calex's bedroll. The son of Eros had stumbled from his bed and stood there staring at it. Kally hoped he was okay. Calex looked like he might cry. Then she remembered how he described his nightmares.

True, she'd "fought" Python in her dreams during her few hours of rest, but at least she was the only one in danger. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to dream about your mother and brother dying every night when you'd actually experienced it.

Axel stood with the bedroll and touched Calex's shoulder. Almost to distract from the comfort, he called over Calex's shoulder to the younger Song. "Joey, wake up your sister."

Joey was grumbling about how she didn't have any of her facial creams with her and that it was a crime against humanity to degrade someone by keeping them from some good Proactive. "You wake her up," she snapped louder. "I'm not dying today."

Kally thought everyone was up, but had overlooked the partially mossy pile that was Euna's sleeping roll. She snored softly, arms and legs peeking out like she'd had an epic blanket battle in her sleep.

Axel released Calex's shoulder, sighed, and walked over. He knelt down and touched her shoulder. "Euna-"

Euna punched him in the face.

While everyone was still stunned, she rolled over. A weave of grass followed her movement to tuck her in, acting as the world's best sentient blanket.

"Yea, we throw stuff at her to wake her up in Cabin Four," Joey explained. She barely hid a smirk as Axel rubbed his chin. "You should see how many alarm clocks she goes through at home."

 _At home_. Kally suddenly thought about her parents and siblings. Her parents were probably worried about her the same way one would worry over milk they forgot to buy at the store, but John… Her older brother was a jerk, but she'd been gone for over 24 hours. She hoped he didn't say or do anything stupid.

A small scuffle erupted between Euna and Axel that ended with Calex carrying Euna—sleeping bag and all—to the Pax mobile.

Merry did a quick morning prayer to the gods— Athena in particular, for whom she composed a quick riddle—Axel scolded her, and they were off.

As the Pax brothers took the front seats and Calex gently set Euna down in the back, he seemed to come out of a state of numbness. He adjusted his beanie and his scarf before leaning over the driver's seat to Axel. "Uh, if we're dropping by Leo, is there any chance we could avoid the… mythological travel?"

His face seemed to take on a green shade just looking through the front window at the golden donkey.

"It's a ten minute drive, mortal car speed," Axel assured.

"But I'm sure Leo won't judge you if you throw up on meeting him," Pax assured.

Calex didn't seem awake enough to give Pax a proper distasteful scowl, but he tried his best.

Once everyone settled down, the car ride went quickly. They traveled on back roads, coasting smoothly with the new suspensions Hephaestus installed. From the few informational signs Kally noticed out of Pax's window, they must have been in some kind of state park.

Pax teased Axel about Reyna the whole ride, providing ample entertainment. As they drove, Kally could hear Merry's empty stomach moaning beside her. She almost felt guilty tearing off a piece of beef jerky and defending it from Baller… but she hadn't had a proper meal since the night before, so wasn't going to stop enjoy her meat.

When they stopped, Kally had expected a palace or a mansion or at least some torches lined up to spell _Leo Valdez is Here,_ similar to a Hollywood sign.

Instead, they came upon a small shack in a clearing, built with various pieces of shimmering metal and wood. The scraps of gold, bronze, oak, and steel were mesmerizing as the morning sun reflected off the structure through the gold and orange trees. An embroidered tapestry hung above the shack with fancy, bold script that read: _Leo and Calypso's Garage._ Below was smaller writing: _Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters; Fresh Fruits and Vegetables; Cider and Stew; Tofu Burgers._

There were two picnic tables in front of the shack. Three centaurs stood at one, munching on bowls of stew and pushing each other around. A girl came out to check on their orders. Despite the smudges of dirt on her face, arms, and rolled up sleeves, Kally could tell she was beautiful. She had long caramel hair and radiant skin. The girl was… intimidating. Kally had never met another person named Calypso before, though that's how people always misspelled her name, if they had a guess at all. Most people expected Kally to look like an exotic model with her name but uh… this girl actually _did_ look like an exotic model.

There was a Hispanic boy with elfish features standing in front of the shack. He seemed far too calm that one hand was smoking and on fire. Not only was he calm, he flipped a patty on that hand like, _oh, Berkeley Hills, California regulation states that you need to finish cooking all burgers before you call the fire department._

And the bronze dragon. Yea, she probably should have first mentioned the dragon hanging out in the clearing behind the shack. The scales outshined the shack, reflecting gold and bronze light everywhere. Two startling red eyes glowed from the dragon's head as it watched the centaurs—a little too hungrily, Kally thought. Were those rubies? The automaton was so big, the dragon could have easily rolled and crushed the shack, the picnic table, and made some centaur patties. Fortunately, it seemed in a no-rolling mood, and much more intent on sunbathing.

Upon seeing the dragon, Kally's first instinct was to panic—the first night she met the Pax brothers, the well-dubbed Silver Festus attacked the Pax Mobile. It took a Roman ballista and a well aimed shot from her discus to knock it out of the sky. They'd only gotten lucky that the control disk had popped out. This dragon was much bigger. They could shoot it with a few canons and still end up as a demigod roast.

Kally grabbed her Argonaut statue, wondering if she should climb to the van's weird sunroof to prepare a futile shot at the dragon's face, but Axel issued no commands and drove up like this was normal. She really needed to accept that stuff like this _was_ normal… But she'd only known she was a demigod for a month. Maybe another six and she'd find dragons drab and boring.

From the rearview mirror reflection, Kally could see childish excitement in Axel's brown eyes. It was cute to see him properly emote like a teenager.

Pax's excitement wasn't as quiet. He leaned partially out the window and said, "That's Leo Valdez? He kinda looks like me!"

In the fact that they were both Hispanic, short, and had impish smiles, this was true, though Pax was slightly darker with chubbier cheeks. And the girl kinda looked like Kally, except looking at her was like trying on the same dress as Aphrodite to see who looked better. For an uncomfortable moment, it also made Kally wonder what she and Pax would sell from a stand. Poisoned bake goods? Weasel shirts? Probably weasel shirts.

"Tofu burgers," Merry sighed wistfully and leaned into Kally's shoulder. "I think I'm in love."

"Right," Calex chuckled. "I'd say a happy 'two' on the infatuation meter at best."

"Tofu burgers are involved. I think that warrants at least a three," Merry argued.

There was a small clearing about two dozen feet away from the shack that Axel took as a parking lot. He stopped the car, pulled the emergency lever, and exhaled slowly.

Joey grunted and leaned over Pax's seat to see the flaming boy better. Neither he nor the girl had paid their van any mind. "He looks like a little runt," she said.

Pax withdrew his apple and tossed it from hand to hand. "I've heard a lot about him from Matt. I may never have this opportunity again." Pax grinned dangerously. "I've gotta mess with him."

Before Axel could say anything, Pax jammed a dart into Axel's seat belt buckle. He opened the door, pressed the lock button, and slammed it shut.

Axel jerked forward so quickly that his seat belt locked, trapping him. He fumbled to open it, but whatever Pax had done kept the buckle fastened even when the dart was removed. "Ajax!" Axel hissed but his brother was already walking towards Leo, taking a bite into his apple.

Merry shoved Kally forward. She stumbled past Joey and almost over Pax's seat.

"Stop him!" Axel commanded and withdrew a knife to cut the seatbelt off.

Kally climbed over the passenger seat, pulled the lock up, and almost fell when she opened the door. As she scrambled after Pax, she could hear Calex yelp from the back, "Axel—the child lock is still engaged! I can't open the back!"

So, for the next few seconds, that would leave it up to her to stop Pax. Well, it wasn't Pax anymore. It was a six foot, blond police officer rapidly closing the distance between he and the teen.

Leo stopped flipping the tofu burger. The flames encircling his hand vanished, leaving a half-fried patty laying awkwardly in his hands. He had curly black hair, not quite as unruly as Pax's, but close. His eyes were also dark, and couldn't focus on one location for long. He wore a dirty army jacket and beat up work jeans.

When Pax leveled with him, Leo grinned. "Hello officer," Leo said with such casual cheer that Kally assumed upsetting the police was as casual for him as walking in late to math class. "You missed the memo! Yesterday was our store's official Po-Po appreciate day, but—"

"You're in violation of California Code SB-1221," Pax interrupted him while flashing a badge. As Kally approached them, she had to marvel at Pax's acting. His posture had gone rigid, the same way it did when he mimicked Axel or pretended to be Jason Grace. He kept his chin held high, like an authority figure would. He pointed at the dragon "I'd like to see your permit for that dragon."

Leo's eyes widened. "You can _see_ Festus?" He glanced back at the dragon, who glanced back at them with those unnerving and beautiful eyes. It creaked and whirred and Kally realized it was _talking._ Maybe telling Leo which one of them it would make into brunch first. Did metal dragons eat people?

When the son of Hephaestus returned his gaze, he looked more confused than alarmed. Leo tilted his head to one side, examining Pax like he could open his face and find a control board. "Do you have special Mist-piercing contacts or something? Because that would be sweet and I'd like to talk to your optometrist."

Once Kally got close enough to interrupt them, she remembered how much she hated improvising. Merry would have come up with some story to drag Pax off before he changed back, so they could pretend they didn't know the crazy guy dressed as a cop that mysteriously vanished.

"Officer—" Kally couldn't continue when she saw Pax's name tag. She burst into giggles.

Leo looked a second later and stifled some chuckles.

"Don't get started with me Ms. Kassand! You're still in trouble for Gorgon hunting on private property _without_ permission!" Pax snapped. His authoritarian demeanor was so convincing, she almost went silent, but Leo's laughter destroyed the illusion.

"Officer Doofus?" Leo gasped through his laughs.

Kally could tell that Pax was losing character. His mouth twitched. "You got a problem with that? You demigods think you're _so_ special and above the law, just because your parents are gods—"

As the air around Pax seemed to ripple, Axel lurched out of the van. The back doors flew open seconds later with Calex and Joey following after. Merry stepped out leisurely after them. Was Euna still sleeping in the car?

Pax's hair darkened back to his wild black, his skin tanned, and his uniform lengthened into his duster jacket, T-shirt, and worn skinny jeans. He'd given up the façade to laugh along with them.

Again, Leo didn't seem that surprised by Pax's shape shifting. He did pick up on the joke. "Man, you had me for a second there, especially with the code. Is that a violation for illegally parking chariots or something?"

Pax shook his head, still laughing. Axel, Calex, and Joey all slowed down to normal walking pace when they saw Leo hadn't set them on fire.

Pax straightened up enough to use his salesman-voice, "California Code SB-1221: you can't use a dog to pursue bears or bobcats. One of the most important laws you need to know to live in the sun state."

Leo saw the others coming and pulled himself together. "Gotta always worry about your spare bobcats," Leo said. His eyes drifted over to Kally. One of his hands ignited again and he flipped the tofu patty. "Nice assist on the prank. I'm Leo Valdez—Handyman supreme. That's Calypso—"

He gestured to the girl. She gave a small wave from where she was still trying to calm the centaurs enough to talk to them. "This is our shop. You can't really find it unless you're sent by a god, recommended by a friend or, have a life-or-death situation that can only be fixed with the world's best cider. So… cider?" he offered.

* * *

As Leo went to set them up for brunch at an open picnic table, Pax listed off their names while pointing at everyone. She, Pax, and Merry took one side; Joey, Calex, and Axel, the other. Merry called dibs on the tofu burger he was flipping.

From the tempo and sound of Pax's voice, Kally could tell Pax really wanted to be this guy's friend. Pax did say that Matthias spoke about Leo a lot. Maybe Leo was also really into weasels and Reese's Sticks.

"I'm Ajax Pax, your evil duplicate.[footnote 1] Here to tell you what you're doing right in your life and how to ruin it. But call me Pax because there are too many A's, too many X's and too much awesome with—"

"Wait. Ajax Packs?" Leo grinned. "Like Ajax packs the heat? Or Ajax packs a punch? Tell me you do some kind of sport or—"

Pax wound up his arm and Kally could _see_ Pax going in to punch Leo. Fortunately, Axel saw it too and darted his hand across the table to stop him.

Pax pouted. "He asked if I could pack a punch—"

"That's not what he meant and you know—"

Pax shook Axel off and resumed his introductions. "This is Kally my sort-of-not-girlfriend, Axel, my brother—also the god of awesome—Merry is pretty cool, Joey, and some prick—"

Calex came out of his starry-eyed stare at Leo to scowl at Pax. "Ey!"

"—named Calex. Oh! And Euna is probably in the van and hasn't gone on some crazy killing spree in pursuit of breakfast."

Kally wasn't sure how she felt about being introduced as Pax's sort-of-not-girlfriend, though—like most things Pax said—it wasn't fully inaccurate.

Joey sighed and stood back up. "I'll go get her up. If there's breakfast involved, she'll be worse if we don't wake her."

As Joey walked away to wake the beast, Leo set out plates for everyone and handed Merry a bun. Merry hummed happily. "Mmm—a curdilicious burger. This might push the infatuation scale to a three—"

"Two and a half at best," Calex offered with a chuckle.

Leo grinned. "Oh, for me? Sorry ladies, but the Leo machine is taken." He glanced up to follow Joey's movement. "I like your party mobile—wow! Are you using a…" Leo paused then snapped his fingers. "A Hygieia Hydraulic prototype?"

Axel sighed. "When I get back to Camp Half-Blood, I'm killing Matthias."

"You're from Camp Half-Blood?" Leo asked. His fingers traced a belt around his waist and his other hand fiddled with a fork he'd put on the table.

"Yea mate. They're curious what is keeping you away," Calex said. He tried to sound casual and lighthearted, but didn't quite manage. His voice as a little too high-pitched.

"I kinda died and came back. It can really mess with a guy's head. I tried to send them a message to let them know I was okay…" Leo trailed off.

Kally didn't know the details of Leo's story the way Merry or Calex would, but she overheard Piper lose it at one of her campers for suggesting Leo might be dead. From what Kally heard, he'd sacrificed himself so they could win one of the great wars but the camp counselors seemed to refuse his death. Piper and Leo had been close friends, hadn't they? Kally could imagine Calex sitting up with Piper, comforting her about Leo.

Leo's mouth moved like he wanted to say more and he glanced quickly over one shoulder.

That beautiful girl was walking over from the centaur table. She looked annoyed. When she noticed Kally, her eyes narrowed. Then they shifted to Merry, giving her a quick look over. The movement was so quick and subtle; Kally thought she must have imagined it when the girl smiled.

Leo whirled to face her like he'd completely forgotten the rest of them. "Hello there Sunshine," he cheered. "You still don't want any help with our party-harty patrons?"

She upturned her chin and huffed. "I see centaur manners haven't changed in the last 3,000 years."

Kally saw Pax reach for a dart on his belt. She put a hand over his to keep him from an unnecessary dartfest. Did anything not startle this boy? Kally understood why he'd been nervous around Romans, but this girl didn't look dangerous. Kally was waiting for the day Pax came running to her because he saw a butterfly that reminded him of a monster.

"You're _the_ Calypso," Pax hissed.

Calypso examined Pax. Her eyes had widened in alarm, then relaxed into confusion. "Yes," she said. Almost to herself, she added, "I don't know you."

Although Kally didn't know why, the disinterest on Calypso's face calmed her. However, Pax's outburst sent a ripple through the table. Axel's eyes narrowed and he folded his hands casually in front of him, resting his chin on his thumbs. This obscured the lower half of his face so she couldn't quite read his expression. Calex flinched and glanced between Leo and Calypso, looking worried.

Finally, there was Merry who munched with her eyes closed. "Whatever comes out of your mouth better not make this delicious feast any less enjoyable," she said without opening her eyes.

Pax ignored her. His hand tensed under Kally's. "No, Ms. Stockholm Syndrome. Most people don't need to know me for me to know them. But you're different. I know you from Jack's poetry."

Calypso's jaw went slack, then it slammed shut, and she scowled. Tears rimmed her eyes. "You know Jack?"

"Seeing as I just got to tango with his murderers, I _knew_ him," Pax corrected. His voice had regained some of his normal buoyancy, but it sounded darker than usual.

Leo's smile faded. He glanced from Pax to Calypso. "Who's Jack?" he asked. "Uh, I kinda thought you said it was just Percy, that pioneer dude, and that Sissy guy."

"Odysseus," Calypso corrected reflexively. She rubbed her sleeve against her face and choked out, "I'm going to get the stew."

"Wait—" Leo said, but Calypso was already disappearing back to their shack. She even ignored how two of the centaurs butted heads to vie for her attention. He glared at Pax. "Not cool man."

Leo raced after her.

Before Calex, Merry, or Kally could ask, the Pax brothers began to hiss back and forth in… Mayan? Because of their accents and her lack of knowledge in any of their languages and dialects, she struggled to tell if they were speaking Spanish, Mayan, or Kriol.

As the two chattered, Kally could see the Song sisters making their way over from the van. Merry set her tofu burger down and dabbed her lips with a napkin. Kally could imagine the verbal assault and battery that she was about to unleash.

"Hold up. What's this about Calypso making things more complicated?" Calex interjected.

Everyone stared at him. His grey eyes at full attention, like one of the Pax brothers had addressed him directly.

The Pax brothers paused, glanced at each other, then glanced at Calex.

Axel asked him a question, keeping his hands folded over his mouth. His accent altered slightly with the language.

Pax muttered something under his breath.

"Shut it you dumb bloke," Calex snapped at Pax. He turned back to Axel. "'Course I can understand you. Now what are you on about?"

Merry gave a hearty laugh.

Some floodgate of emotion broke in Kally and she sighed in relief. "Thank God _someone_ can understand them!" she said. When the boys used language as a way to pretend she wasn't there… it kind of hurt. Especially considering Pax had told her so much, and that she couldn't tell his secrets anyway... it almost wasn't fair.

Merry nudged Kally's shoulder. "Love and desire speaks all languages. I guess that means Calex does too."

Calex stared thoughtfully off to the side, then nodded his head. "I can understand most languages after hearing them a few times. I suppose that would be a godly power."

"So, speak English," Merry said to Pax and Axel. "Else we'll get it with a British accent and Pax, you know Calex will make you sound stupid."

"You're right. I'd make him sound as he normally does," Calex said.

"I sound like a scholar and a gentleman," Pax protested.

By now, Joey and Euna had made their way to the picnic table. Although all of them looked exhausted, Kally was pretty sure she could start a sleep walking club with Euna. Probably a little dangerous in the Greek world. The girl's eyes were barely open and her hair was plastered to the side of her face. After she plopped down in Joey's former seat, she scanned the table for food other than Merry's half eaten burger and found none. Slowly, she glared at her sister in a way that would make sloths proud.

Joey shoved Pax further down the bench into Kally so she could squeeze beside them. "Don't look at me. Pax probably scared the food off."

"Don't worry Flower Girl. Leo will be back with sweets." Merry reached across to pat Euna's head, but Kally grabbed Merry's wrist and pulled her back. She knew the type of look on Euna's face and didn't want Merry to be down one hand.

Merry shook her off with an amused grin. She turned her attention back to Axel. "Let's start this game of question and answer from the beginning. Why are we here? We know you're a big fan of being the gods' errand boy and—as much as I know you wanted to see Mr. Hunkihunk's childlike wonder at seeing Leo Valdez—" She winked at Calex. "—I'm smelling an ulterior motive. And I doubt you're here to rescue the Human Torch, who apparently doesn't need rescuing."

Axel examined Merry. No one was willing to interrupt the staring contest that rapidly degraded into an uncomfortable stalemate, not even Pax. His eyes flicked down to where Kally had rested her hand back on his—she'd only done it in case Calypso came back out and he went for his darts. He enlaced their fingers, lifted their hands into the air, then opened and closed them at random spots like PAC-MAN trying to eat some ghosts.

Euna put her head down on the table to nap.

Axel sighed, closed his eyes, and spoke softly. "Our father is trying to become a god. I need Leo Valdez to craft a weapon that not… not even Ares's curse could break." When Axel opened his eyes, they gleamed in the sunshine. For a moment, they glistened from brown to gold and Kally thought about the vision she saw in the van. "Then, I will be properly equipped to stop him."

Kally had gathered most of this from Pax, but it was weird to hear Axel say them aloud. It felt anticlimactic at their little picnic table.

"A god?" Joey repeated in disbelief.

Calex's eyes were wide. "Can the average bloke become a god?"

"He's going to try," Axel said.

"And what kind of person is your pops like that he wants to become a god?" Merry asked quietly. Her jaw slanted out of alignment and she rubbed it.

Axel nodded his head. "Not a very good one."

A silent message passed between the two of them. Merry seemed to notice she was rubbing her face and forced her hand to the tabletop. Kally remembered the bruises Merry had when she left her father's house and how Merry was seeking emancipation . They really needed an ice cream catch up day.

Pax set their hands down on the table. He squirmed back and forth, keeping his eyes on the ground. Kally thought he'd add something. Instead, he used his spare hand to fumble a necklace out from under his shirt.

"And how does…" Merry leaned forward so her mahogany locks dusted the edge of the table. She glanced past Kally at Pax. He paused and gave her a devilish grin. "Ms. Stockholm Syndrome make things more complicated?"

"Isn't Calypso from the original myths? What's she doing here?" Joey piped up. She sat up straighter and leaned forward to be more part of the conversation.

Merry nodded. "She was locked up tight on an island as punishment for supporting the Titans in the First Titan War. The gods would send her heroes to spice up her life, but they would always want to leave. She wasn't known for being a good sport about it and, when Odysseus decided he was ready to stop the hanky-panky and go home to his waifu, she went a little _Misery_ on Odysseus, for maybe seven years or so."

Pax scowled. He released his necklace and his hand tightened an uncomfortable amount on Kally's. "She shows her affections in unconventional ways."

Axel frowned through his fingers. "Jack was a mess afterwards."

" _She_ captured your friend?" Joey asked, clearly skeptical of Jack's abilities to defend himself from a tiny woman. "Is this the guy you kept calling the Scourge of Rome?"

Axel hesitated. "Propaganda. Not all killers are brave and not all monsters are ugly." He glared over at the shack. "We needed Jack for the war and Atlas suspected he knew where Jack had disappeared."

"So, you went to get him?" Calex asked.

Axel shook his head. "Mortals can't find Ogygia except as teasers to Calypso, but Titans can. Prometheus and Atlas went to bargain for his release."

"She had him gagged and muzzled like a dog," Pax grumbled. "You know, like you do with people you love that want to leave."

Kally felt her stomach drop. She wanted to assume Pax was joking, but she had a terrifying image of Pax as an ex-boyfriend, dressing up as a killer rabbit to scare away potential future boyfriends. Assuming future boyfriends were a thing that would ever happen.

Joey rolled her eyes. "Leo is here and ungagged. And I heard some rumors about Percy and this girl. He's also ungagged. Maybe she changed her ways."

Axel grunted. "Yea, and maybe Zeus said that humans and gods are born equal or Chiron will stop sending heroes out to die." He shook his head. "Atlas made her swear on the River Styx that she wouldn't hold heroes against their will anymore. We couldn't have her taking anyone else from our cause. How ironic that the next one to show up was probably Percy Jackson."

Calex said, "I do get some odd feelings off them. Though they do fancy each other just fine."

"Calypso is probably worried we're going to drag him back to Camp Half-Blood," Axel mumbled to himself.

"Well, duh. Leo belongs in Camp Half-Blood," Joey said. "Why should she care?"

Kally thought about how it would feel living on an island for 3,000 years in solitude. At first, she thought it might be awesome: all that time for writing, reading, and video games. The best part: there'd be no school, no annoying chemistry assignments to fail, and no cute boys to make her freeze up and feel like the world's most realistic ice sculpture. But she was already lonely without Merry and it had been about a month since she moved to New York. And if the only people to visit would inevitably want to leave you…

"She's probably scared of having to interact with others," Kally blurted. When Merry, Axel, and Calex turned towards her, she thought about crawling under the table, but pushed forward. "If everyone she loved left her when she was on an island, I could see her being afraid of them having… more distractions off the island. And she might be nervous about talking to people in general. I wonder if Leo hasn't gone back because she's still adjusting."

Could there be adjustment periods for 3,000 years of near solitude and separation anxiety? She could imagine trying to talk to a school counselor about that. " _Uh, I'm a little afraid my boyfriend might leave me. The last 26 did."_

Kally had never been stranded on an island and she was terrified of social interaction. It would be unrealistic to think that wouldn't leave a person bitter, anxious, and vindictive about the isolation. Especially when you looked like Calypso and could offer immortal paradise and boys _still_ chose to leave.

Pax let go of Kally's hand. Although she still felt uncomfortable with the exchange, her skin felt cold without his. He pouted at the ground and grumbled, "Nice to know you'll sympathize with me when I do terrible things in the future because I have a traumatic back story."

"You're probably right," Merry said. She must not have heard Pax, or was ignoring him. Merry gave Kally a little shoulder nudge of approval. She asked Axel, "So, you're worried she won't do us any favors for fear we'll whisk away her knight in greasy armor. I think I can change her mind on that or at least distract her, with a little permission from all of you."

Merry pressed something on her jacket and smooth jazz filled their ears. The music sounded more like high-quality-surround-sound rather than a dinky jacket radio.

The nearby centaurs perked up like social justice warriors detecting a racist comment.

Axel grinned, tapping his fingers across his goatee. "I like your idea, daughter of Dionysus."

* * *

Kally wasn't sure how often she'd get to say it, but having a couple of centaurs handy helped a lot. As soon as Merry had their permission and gave a summary of her plan, she switched her powers on. Maybe it was because they hadn't had enough sleep or that they'd finally had a chance to relax after almost 24 hours of questing, but Kally calmed when Merry turned the music up. She thought about how easy it was to hide in a corner when other people were dancing and was blissful at the idea.

The centaurs did the opposite.

"Party time!" one cried.

The other two bumped their heads together.

"Alright everyone, if you want to make this far easier on me, give a quick shout out to something that makes you happy! It can be sad-happy or excited-happy. Preferably something giddy-happy though," Merry shouted. She stood up and gave everyone a charming smile.

Kally wondered how long it would take Leo and Calypso to come back out with the throb of music and the soon-to-be shouting. Merry's jacket must have had telepathic subwoofers to make the picnic tables buzz the way they did.

Merry pointed at Joey.

Joey smirked and stood up with her. "Easy: dancing." She put her hands on her hips and Kally could see Joey was already swaying to the beat. Something about Joey's smile felt contagious.

Although the look on his was a sad grin, Calex stood up as well. "Waking up Tom in the morning," he said. Although the motion seemed to pain him, he poked Euna in the side.

Euna sat up—Kally expected her to break Calex's finger—and grumbled, unironically, "A full night's sleep."

Merry glanced at Kally. Panic swelled in her. She knew it didn't matter what her shout out was, but she didn't want to—

"Starting a new journal," Kally said and jumped to her feet before Merry could poke her.

"Woo-hoo! Literacy!" One of the centaurs called and smashed a bowl on the table.

That was less nerve wracking than she thought it would be, even with the Thor-centaur. Merry gave her a thumbs up.

Pax stood up. "A happy family," he said.

Axel sighed and joined them standing. "When Reyna is trying not to smile."

Pax nudged Euna with his arm. "Euna, you need to stand up so we can finish our transformation and turn into Sailor Scouts." [footnote 2]

Euna grumbled and stumbled to her feet.

As soon as she did, the centaur, who had originally shouted _Party Time,_ joined in their declarations with, "Red velvet cheesecake!"

"Fuzzy rabbits!"

"The Anti-Corruption Act!" the last one shouted.

The other two stared at him for a moment, shrugged, and echoed, "The Anti-Corruption Act!" [footnote 3]

Kally didn't know what that was, but Axel nodded in approval.

During all their exclamations, someone else crept over. The bronze dragon made a creaking sound from a spot almost directly above Kally. She felt like she should have been more afraid, but the addition of a cheerfully creaking dragon seemed appropriate in the sunny weather.

Kally hadn't realized she was starting to shift from foot to foot to the beat. Although Merry had warned that her demigod powers magnified with excitement and joy, she hadn't realized exactly how nice the community feeling and electrojazz would be.

One of the centaurs, Mr. Anti-corruption jumped onto the picnic table, collapsing it. He took off his _Party Ponies_ shirt and swung it over his head while shouting, "Washington Chapter loves remixes of Louis Armstrong!" [footnote 4]

"Yea!" the other two cheered.

Then rushed at their group.

"Not again," Calex grumbled.

Kally wasn't sure what to expect, but burst into laughter when one centaur took Calex's arm to dance with him and another took Joey's. The height-to-horse ratio was a little ridiculous, but none of them seemed to mind.

Leo and Calypso rushed out of their shack.

Leo frowned at the picnic table, though he perked up at the music. "Aw man, it took me like, 30 seconds to make this table!" Although Leo attempted to look stern, he laughed when he saw Festus swing his head to the music.

A rustling came from the woods. Normally, Kally's demigod instincts might have shouted _danger_ but, with the music and the pleasant warmth of the sunshine on her face, she knew it couldn't be evil.

A dozen nymphs and satyrs skipped out of the woods, wearing colorful crowns made of fallen leaves. They needed no invitation or conversation to prance among the centaurs and half-bloods. Kally giggled as the nymphs poked the satyrs horns with sticks then darted away, in a cat-and-mouse dance.

Someone poked her in the ear.

Kally jumped. Pax stood beside her with his devilish grin. He winked his hazel eye. "Try and catch me Cyclops," he invited.

Kally wanted to do something more than blush. On a whim, Kally lunged forward as though she was going to pursue him then stopped short.

Pax jumped back, though almost stumbled when she didn't follow. They laughed.

Kally could see Axel offer a hand to Euna. She stared at him.

"I promise you'll get food afterwards," he said.

"I can't dance," she stated. She didn't sound embarrassed about it, but factual.

"But you can fight," Pax pointed out. His eyes remained on Kally and he hopped from foot to foot, the way he often did before doing something stupid. Although he kept focused on her, he said to Axel and Euna. "You ever see Avatar the Last Air Bender? Just take her through some fighting stances."

Euna shrugged. Within seconds, the satyrs, nymphs and the rest of their group learned to give them a wide birth while they ran through practice drills to the beat. Both laughed when Euna accidentally whapped Axel in the face.

"How have you seen so much TV?" Kally asked Pax as he pranced closer to her.

"It's how Luke shut up Matt and me when we were causing too much trouble," Pax said proudly.

When Kally glanced over, she saw Merry had danced up between Calypso and Leo. Calypso looked uncomfortable, the way Kally usually felt at school dances. Part of Kally felt sympathy for her. Dances were _super_ awkward, and they hadn't even formed a circle group yet. Something about Merry's music calmed Kally though. Maybe she should pull Calypso in for a dance so she knew she was welcome.

"Man, we gotta start charging party fees," Leo laughed. His hands fumbled around his apron, withdrawing pieces to construct a quick party hat out of a paper plate. That boy's fingers could move _fast._

"Oh no, honey. Other way around. I'm great for business as you'll have plenty of greedy tummies to feed in a bit," Merry hummed with a broad smile. "This one is on the house though because your tofu burger was so yumlicious. However, this party will only be complete with the Leomeister and Calydoll."

"I might head inside," Calypso said. She touched her head. "My head kinda hurts. I think I'm going to go lay down."

Kally had looked away for too long. Pax dove at her. She yelped and stumbled back, but Pax stopped short when he registered what Calypso said. He glanced over at the same time as Axel, who also paused in his fight-dancing with Euna.

Axel nodded to Pax. Then got struck in the face. Again.

Pax scrambled over to Calypso's side. "Hey! Yea, syndrome-calling is bad and stuff, and I shouldn't have called you those things."

If it was anyone other than Pax, Kally might have believed him. But Kally recognized the tone and it said, _I should have said worse things_.

"That's not much of an apology—" Leo started to say but Pax cut him off.

"But I have something that will stop you from feeling your headache," Pax offered. He withdrew a vial from inside his jacket that Kally had never seen before. Unlike his knockout serum and poison, it was full and glittered like the stars. "Our dad owns a pharmaceutical company and this stuff works better than a dream."

Calypso glared at Pax, probably still unhappy about what he'd said earlier, but her want for a headache remedy won out.

Kally might have been disappointed when Pax took Calypso to the side, but the ensuing game of musical, dancing chairs distracted her. Calex and Joey managed to escape the centaurs and rejoin their group.

Axel left Euna to Calex with strict instructions that she not accidentally kill Calex. Before Leo could go after Calypso and Pax, Axel snagged Leo's arm and took him to the side. Axel said something about needing to do business before they could party. Merry, Calex, and Leo all looked disappointed as Axel led Leo to the van.

That was the plan though, right? Now Axel could ask Leo to build that unbreakable weapon. But she had to wonder—Axel had mentioned Hephaestus had fixed all the weapons in the back of the van. What tool or talent could Leo have access to that Hephaestus wouldn't also have?

Merry placed a hand on Kally's shoulder. "We don't need pretty boys to have fun," she said, laughing and shoving Kally to sway her hips.

Joey came over to join them and give Kally a few pointers on dancing. Kally never thought of herself as a good dancer, but Joey proved to be surprisingly encouraging despite all of her criticism. Joey was phenomenal. Kally had almost forgotten the dance battle she had against Apollo when they first got to camp.

"We have a school dance coming up," Joey shouted over the playful bounce of music. Since the music never seemed to change level when Kally stepped closer or further from Merry, she wondered if part of its magic was to keep it the same volume for anyone partying. "You should all come. I can invite Pax as my date. Euna can invite Axel." Joey flipped her hair. "I've got plenty of friends who would love to take Calex or one of you two if I tell them to."

"Mmm, I do love parties," Merry cheered.

Kally envisioned Joey as a mob boss, controlling a roving group of pre-teen girls in pop-star hoodies and perfect makeup. Kally would rather fight _Aphrodite's Devils_ again than have to keep up conversation with them. Instead of rejecting Joey's offer, Kally asked, "Joey, don't you have a boyfriend you'd want to invite instead?"

Kally often forgot Joey was two years younger than her. Despite her age, Kally couldn't imagine Joey _not_ having a boyfriend.

Joey glanced over to make sure Euna was distracted by Calex. As though she wasn't shouting, she leaned toward Merry and Kally. "I'm dating Apollo, but he's really busy."

That took a moment to process. "My dad?" Kally balked. Regardless of how gods could change their appearance, something about her fourteen-year-old… friend? Could she really call Joey a friend? But her fourteen-year-old friend dating her 3,000 year old father seemed like something she should report to the school counselor and maybe some kind of super powered police force since she doubted their counselor could do much. Did Chiron have a policy for camper-god relationships?

Merry shook her head to the music. "You think you might be a bit too much of a young kitten for—"

"Nope," Joey stated without a hint of offense or uncertainty. "When I'm older, I'll marry him and become a goddess."

"Joey, Goddess of Vanity."

Kally jumped when Pax appeared beside her. He grinned, winked his hazel eye at her, and slipped his hand into hers.

Joey huffed, but didn't break her smile.

"Where's Calypso?" Kally asked. It felt weird to say her own name like that.

"Telling Morpheus I said, 'sup,'" Pax said.

"Is she alive, Mr. Vague?" Merry hummed, tapping his cheek.

"When I saw her last. I went to make some Kool-Aid after—"

"Are you the girl who considered herself worthy enough to marry a god?"

Despite the merry atmosphere, everyone jumped when an older woman spoke beside Joey. None of them saw the woman walk up. Or maybe it was a dryad with a shawl? Kally couldn't be sure, but she'd never seen a dryad hunched over like this one was. Kally couldn't even see the speaker's face, but the woman's voice sounded aged with contempt and haughtiness.

Merry went from shaking her head to the beat to rapidly shaking her head at Joey. She made consecutive slicing motions at her neck like to say, _cut it out_. Pax stepped behind Kally, in a way that cued Kally that this was not a mortal.

Joey ignored her. "Augh, not right now. I haven't done nearly enough quests yet. I doubt anyone knows me on Olympus. But, Hercules became an immortal. And Psyche married a god. If I work hard at it, anything can happen," Joey said it with such casual confidence, Kally might have believed her… except she was talking about becoming immortal and marrying Kally's father. For the record: gross.

Kally decided she didn't want to be there for that conversation anymore. Although she assumed Merry's powers were blocking her from fully understanding her discomfort, it was definitely a killjoy.

Joey laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Can you imagine it? Eternal beauty? Parties every night?"

The old woman scowled at Joey, saying, "What did Hermes call it? The illusion of capitalism? Saying you can do anything if you put your mind to it. What a lie they tell children these days. [footnote 5] You don't think it bold for a mortal to want godhood?"

Kally tugged on Pax's hand.

"Can we—can you and I—go for a walk in the woods?" Kally whispered. She didn't want Pax to misunderstand and invite Joey to come along. She hoped he'd come up with an excuse as to why it should be a walk without her—

Pax nodded, eager to get away from the older woman. He walked them towards the line of orange and yellow trees. To the others, he said, "Guys, Kally and I will be right back. We are going to go make out in the woods."

"Pax!" Kally hissed and struggled to withdraw her hand. That's not what she meant—

He tapped her nose with his other hand. "What? I'm a forward thinker." He grinned. "And you didn't seem like you wanted to be followed, Cyclops."

They walked past Festus, where he whirred his gears and bobbed his head. Kally wondered if the vibrations from the music felt like a massage to his wires. Two centaurs were doing a dance around him. Either that, or they were creeping up to attack, but Kally figured Festus could defend himself in the event of a pony riot.

"That make out comment—it'll encourage Merry to follow us," Kally complained once the music quieted to sound more like an iPad and less like the best speakers ever.

As she said it, a brilliant explosion of light erupted behind her. At first, she wondered if Leo Valdez had heard about her super nova and wanted to show her up. Then she heard a terrifying voice bellow, " _Impetuous mortal!_ "

When Kally turned, she saw all the centaurs and nymphs had dropped to grovel on their knees. Calex and Euna froze in mid-dance. There was no longer an old woman beside Joey, but a beautiful goddess, garbed in a glowing white gown and a cloak of peacock feathers. Her black hair was wrapped with golden ribbon in plaits down one shoulder. Those eyes burned with ferocity and radiated power.

The music quieted. Merry joined the groveling with a quick, "Holy Hera!" Kally wasn't sure if she was swearing or genuflecting. Merry tugged at Joey's arm, but the daughter of Demeter stood there, gawking at the goddess.

There were so many feathers. Kally had to wonder what Joey said to make the old woman combust into a boa with limbs.

" _You think you can handle the same trials and tribulations of the pious Psyche and the great Hercules?_ " the goddess demanded.

Joey swallowed and clenched her fist. Kally was impressed. She would have apologized, cried, and probably managed to trip and knock herself out, but Joey stood her ground. "I can," she said, though Kally could hear her voice quiver.

Hera's eyes narrowed. " _Very well,"_ she snapped. Hera raised one hand and Kally was pretty sure they were about to witness a half-blood being smacked into a constellation. Instead, something appeared in Hera's hand.

 _A polished rosewood box with golden filigree_.

Kally was too far to see those details on the box, but she _knew_ that's what it looked like. She'd seen it before, but she couldn't remember where.

 _"This box allows you to carry the essence of a god or abstract thought. Travel into the Underworld and bring me the essence of Hades and Persephone's happy marriage. Let's see if you're worthy to be a hero, let alone a consort of Apollo."_

Kally recalled something Rachel said to her in her dream—that there would be a domino effect into a disaster with causalities on both sides.

 _"Both sides?_ " _she'd asked. "Monster and half-blood?"_

 _"No,_ " _Rachel had frowned. "Traitor and hero."_

And seeing that polished rosewood box, Kally knew that was one of the first dominos.

Pax frantically tugged Kally's arm. "We need to go tell Axel," he whispered.

* * *

Pax dragged Kally into the forest before they could see if Joey accepted the box. From the sudden _pop_ they heard, Kally guessed Joey had accepted the box and Hera had disappeared. Either that or Hera popped Joey into confetti.

Kally tried to balance not-panicking while scanning her memory for that box. She guessed it must have been from a vision, but she couldn't pinpoint which.

Although Pax rushed when they first set out, he slowed them down drastically when they heard Leo from somewhere ahead. "Uh… you want me to what?" the son of Hephaestus sounded like Axel had asked him to jump rope with a Fury's flame whip. Though, if Leo really was fire proof, he probably _could_ do jump rope with a Fury's whip. Maybe she shouldn't mention that to Pax since he might demand a performance.

With the rays of brilliant sunlight sparkling through the woods, everything glowed yellow and orange. Axel and Leo stood out starkly. Kally hadn't seen where they went at the start of the dance party, but Axel must have grabbed something from the van. He leaned against a tree, holding some kind of insulated sack in his hand.

Kally had to wonder how they didn't hear Hera's temper tantrum in the background, but she supposed the centaurs _had_ kicked over a table at the start of their party.

Pax stopped behind a large oak. He tugged Kally close and motioned for silence. Kally stumbled into Pax's duster jacket and wanted to remind him that she wasn't keen on his original public excuse for their departure.

But Pax leaned along the tree to watch the two talk. Kally wanted to point out that it was more important to make sure Joey wasn't tiny pieces of paper than any prank Pax planned on playing on Axel, but Kally understood why Pax had paused. Axel looked… weird. Too business-like.

"—with the temperature you'll need to remove the metal, I'm not sure it would be safe for Calypso to help you." With such routine smoothness to his speech, Axel must have been continuing a long list of instructions.

Leo waved his hand, pacing back and forth. He had a flip notebook in one hand and a pencil in this other. "Na man, her temper is hotter than any fire I can spill. She's resistant. Plus I made her a fireproof Iron Lady suit so she can help me on more complicated projects." Axel perked up at this information. Leo didn't notice. He was sketching some kind of design. "So, melt the metal out of some coals and build a Buster Sword. Jeez amigo, you made this sound way cooler than it is. And why are you being so secretive with the payment? Do you have counterfeit ambrosia or something?"

Axel reached into the bag and withdrew the Silver Festus's control disk. A month ago, when Kally first met the Pax brothers, they'd been attacked by a silver automaton dragon. With the help of the Romans, they'd managed to dislodge its control disk and shut it down. After seeing the real Festus, Kally understood the nickname.

Leo's eyes went wide. "Holy Toledo! That's Felix's control disk!" He dropped his pen into his work belt and rushed within inches of Axel. "You have no idea how long it took me to find that much silver without Hazel around! Where did you find her?!"

"Your dragon attacked us," Axel said.

"Automatons these days, am I right? They grow up so fast." Although Kally could hear the jest in Leo's voice, he eagerly darted around the disk, taking note of any of its imperfections. "I wonder why she—oh! Oooooooh!" Leo snapped his fingers and pointed at Axel. "You have a girl named Calypso in your group, right? Uh, Kelly or whatever?"

Kally flinched. She _hated_ being called Kelly.

Pax glanced away to give her an evil grin. She had a feeling she'd hate it even more in the next few days.

"Kally," Axel corrected.

"I was in the middle of programming Felix's search engine—the search-and-rescue kind not the Google kind—when she disappeared. Felix was supposed to find Calypso if we ever got separated, but I never got to the 'rescue' part of the programming. Looks like Felix is good at finding Calypsos. Well, thanks for returning my disk."

Axel didn't look amused. Leo reached to take the control disk, and Axel tilted it up and away from his hand. "Before I give you this, I need you to swear that you'll finish building the sword. This metal is cursed."

Axel shook the bag in his hands. Although she already heard him mention coals, she expected some kind of metallic jingle instead of a swoosh of smoke from the bag. Were the coals on _fire_? "Weird stuff will start to happen when work starts on it and probably won't stop until it's done."

Leo frowned. "What? Did you rob a mummy or something? I'm pretty sure that's illegal in the book of Rawr."

"Ra," Axel corrected again.

When he continued his cold stare, Leo sighed. "Okay, okay. I guess it cursed away your sense of humor too."

"A handshake will bring it back," Axel gave him a crooked smile. He looped the satchel's straps around one arm so he could extend a hand. "On the River Styx, you swear to finish this sword as soon as possible and give it to me and I promise to give you Felix's disk _and_ do everything I can reasonably do to get you her body. Once I'm done with my mission, respectively."

"On the River Styx? For a sword?" Leo put his hands on his hips. "Are you sure you're not a con man? Because you're starting to sound like Sisyphus."

Axel frowned. He put the silver disk into the bag.

"Wait—okay, okay." Leo put his hands up. He fiddled with his tool belt and glanced at the ground, thinking. "It'll take me a day, day and a half tops. Probably a day and a half if you're expecting parties and tofu burgers."

"Deal," Axel said and put his hand back out.

Pax tensed. As Leo took Axel's hand to shake, Pax bolted towards them, almost knocking Kally over. "HEY!" he shouted.

But Leo was already shaking.

Kally had learned her lesson about swearing on the River Styx to a Pax boy. It's why she couldn't tell any of Pax's secrets. It was frustrating when Merry teased her about conversations that Merry assumed were romantic and weren't, but it didn't hurt beyond that. Plus, this was with Axel, not Pax. Axel always seemed more candid than his brother. But she wondered why he had all these extra precautions. Wasn't Leo just making Axel a sword?

Leo and Axel glanced over. With the attention in their direction, it would probably look worse if Kally continued to stay half-hidden behind a tree. She stepped out, wishing she had _anything_ to do with her hands and a way to explain away the eavesdropping.

Pax stopped a foot short of them. "Hera gave Joey a fancy box to get marriage advice from Persephone."

Leo blinked. "Wait, Hera was here? As in goddess Hera? Shouldn't there be more chaos and general annoyance? And—hey!" Leo suddenly seemed to remember what Pax had said to Calypso. "You were a jerk to Calypso."

Pax shrugged. "I told Calypso I shouldn't have said those things. Leo, let's restart. I want us to be friends. I'm Officer Doofus of the Doof Diversion Team—"

"Ajax," Axel interrupted. "Aren't you supposed to be making Kool-Aid to calm everyone's nerves?"

Pax pouted and fiddled with something in his duster jacket, eerily similar to how Leo fiddled with his tool belt. "Fine," Pax grumbled. "You go make more devious sounding plans. Come on Kally."

* * *

When they came out of the forest, the party had resumed. Hera was nowhere to be seen. The nymphs, satyrs, and centaurs were dancing. Merry must have turned the music back up.

Pax ran off to make some Kool-Aid in the shack. He seemed… more upset than she'd expect from an eavesdropping session, but she continued forward when he waved her on.

Their friends were back at the picnic table. Kally expected Euna to be shouting at her sister for her recklessness, but Euna had passed back out on the table. That girl must have really loved to sleep. A glass of green liquid rested in front of her, probably the Kool-Aid Pax made.

"Is Axel's master sword under construction?" Merry asked. She looked tired, her honey skin glistening with sweat, though Kally wasn't sure if it was from dancing or from pushing Euna and Joey back into non-killing moods after Hera's interruption. She sat beside Joey, who wasn't confetti, with Calex across from her.

The rosewood box was on top of the table, partially covered by Joey's hands. When compared to her fingers, the box seemed small, not something to hold the essence of a god. Now that Hera wasn't around, Joey looked pale and sick. Kally could imagine her epiphany of, " _Oh, Hera meant_ that _Underworld. Can I fill this with Gushers instead?_ " Kally wondered what Euna said to her before falling asleep that made Joey realize a trip to the Underworld _probably_ wasn't a good thing.

From the silence prior to her arrival, no one wanted to talk about Joey's new quest.

"He and Leo are taking a long time to get things sorted," Calex said. He frowned at the rosewood box thoughtfully. The gloom in his grey eyes made his gaze feel hundreds of miles away. _Probably back in Kakata_ ,Kally thought.

"Leo said it would take a day or so to make," Kally said. Something about that conversation didn't feel right. She didn't want to bother them or say something to make the boys sound suspicious, especially not after the _Missing_ flier from Hiro and Lapis. But she remembered Calex saying something…

"Hey Calex," she prompted quietly.

When he glanced at her, Kally tried not to look away. She was finally getting comfortable looking all of them in the eye, and it was just in time to remind her that Calex _looked_ like you'd expect a son of Eros to look. "Um, you said something about coals being stolen, er, some kind of rumor at camp…?" Her voice went softer with each word. Merry's party euphoria must have been wearing off, since her instinct to hide under the nearest piece of cardboard to avoid socializing—it was coming back.

In the distance, she saw Pax stroll out of the shack, balancing several dozen plastic cups and four pitchers of clear, glittery liquid on a tray. When he ran into a centaur or nymph, he would bow grandly and fill them a cup. As it poured out, the liquid would alter into various neon shades of Kool-Aid. As cool as that was, it made Kally wonder if Pax should ever be allowed to brew them Kool-Aid.

"Coals…" Calex repeated. "Oh. Hestia's coals. Someone nicked a few during the chaos of the Second Giant War. Why?" He stooped a little lower to the table, and Kally had to wonder if Calex did it to hide his height. It didn't work.

Merry cocked her jaw to one side. Her brown eyes darted to the forest. She hummed in short, declining notes to signal her disapproval. "Oh you silly chillies. We need to round up those Pax boys and give them a talking to. Then we should regroup at Camp Half-Blood before we tackle the last trial of Psyche or Axel's father."

Joey managed to draw her eyes from the rosewood box to look at Merry. "Psyche already did this? Oh duh, someone has always already done it." She rolled her eyes. "How'd she do it?" The last part sounded more eager than Joey would probably want to admit.

"She failed sweetie," Merry said, eyes lingering on the forest.

Joey huffed and flipped the pink highlights out of her eyes. "Then I just need to be better than Psyche."

"Welllll," Merry said, stretching her arms above her head in a way that made Calex glance away. She grinned at Joey, finally breaking eye contact with the trees. Kally didn't know how to tell Merry, but she figured the nymphs would be _way_ better at staring contests. "Hubris is clearly your fatal flaw, a very popular choice amongst heroes. Mine is taking things too lightly. Anyone else want to go?"

"Mine is cowardice."

Pax swept in with the tray. He had one pitcher left, probably just enough for their group. In a flash, he'd tossed cups in front of all of them. As he poured it out, the colors altered: Merry's, purple; Kally's, red; Joey's, pink; Calex's, blue. Pax set another cup down for himself. When he poured, it shimmered to a black. Kally didn't know they made black Kool-Aid.

"Can we do that party thing again? It was the perfect distraction to slip bugs into Calex's sleeping bag," Pax cheered.

Calex scowled at him.

"Not until you and your brother answer some long awaited questions," Merry said. She picked up her plastic cup and swirled the contents.

Pax flipped one hand to the side. "Do you think questions feel rather esteemed and self-important when they're long awaited?" He set the tray down on the table and sat beside Kally. When no one answered him, Pax pouted. "Can we at least cheers first? I told everyone to wait until I gave the signal so I could poison all of you at once." He tapped his hands together like an evil mastermind.

All the centaurs and nymphs _were_ staring at the table, drinks in hand. The centaurs had started to fist pump in the air. "Beers! Beers! Beers!

Another shouted, "Dude, he said _cheers."_

"Oh…Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!"

Merry waved Pax on with a smile.

Pax hopped onto the table and raised his glass. "To trusting and trusted friends, to enabling family, and—most importantly—to super, awesome weasels!"

The nymphs and centaurs glanced at each other. The ones who were chanting "beer" earlier glanced at one another. "Eh," one said. "Not as good as the Anti-Corruption Act, but it's still a reason to party. To weasels!"

"To weasels!"

They stomped their hooves and clanked their heads together.

As the centaurs competed to chug their Kool-Aid fastest, Pax sat down beside Kally. He wrapped an arm around her waist, making Kally's hip tingle. She raised her cup along with Merry, Joey, Calex, and Pax. They clacked them together and each took a sip. Well, Joey chugged hers down. Kally could imagine the adrenaline rush she would get in the next few minutes.

As expected from the color, Kally's was cherry. She set the cup down, glancing over at Pax. He hadn't touched his drink, but kept swirling it in his hand. From this close, Pax's annoying chocolate smell mixed wonderfully with the smell of her Kool-Aid. He puffed out those round cheeks and popped them, then wrinkled his button nose.

"Pax, you're really cute." The words came out of her mouth instead of being repressed in her brain, where they belonged and should die. Kally felt her cheeks burn and her head felt light.

"Paxes—er—Paxi?—Paxes? are all adorable, but, for you, that's just the Morpheus Dust talking," he laughed half-heartedly.

Joey collapsed onto the picnic table, plastic cup clattering to the ground. Behind them, the party ponies staggered to the autumn leaves. Nymphs yawned. The music slowed like Merry's jacket had run out of batteries. Calex tried to stand but crumbled backwards.

Pax wouldn't look down at her, but watched everyone falling into heaps.

"You shouldn't joke like that. It makes it hard to tell when you're lying," Kally said, trying to raise a finger at Pax. She couldn't get her hand to work. Those and her feet had gone numb. Some part of her screamed that this should be scary, that she should send out an Iris Message for help, but… maybe Merry's powers were still keeping her calm.

She struggled to keep her eyes open. Had Pax not had an arm around her back, she might have fallen off the bench. He pulled her close, so she'd slide against his duster jacket. The leather felt soft.

"I don't lie very often Kally," he whispered into her hair. "Direct lying is Axel's job. Since you're not going to remember this conversation later, I think it's safe for me to admit that I'm falling in love with you. I hope tricking and drugging all of you doesn't ruin our chances of dating."

 _Tricking? Drugging?_ Kally tried to wrap her brain around it, but before she could, she felt the cold coils of Python tightening around her chest.

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! :D Is anyone surprised by Pax's actions? I feel like all of you are just going to sigh at him the same way Axel would. Next chapter is the one of of the ones I'm most excited for in this book! I hope you end up liking it!

* * *

Footnotes:

1 Author is not oblivious to what you're probably all thinking XD

2 And now I need to figure out who would be which Sailor Scout. I'm pretty sure Axel is Sailor Mars…

3 Shameless and boring political plug! /

4 While this song is more thematic for other characters, the artist inspired this scene: watch?v=6ssoRXlOhqI

5 Jack's not bitter at all -.-


	25. Kal: Solar Deities are Creepy

Twenty-Five: Kalypso

Solar Deities are Creepy and Need Restraining Orders

The most frustrating thing about Kally's nightmare was simple: she'd already beaten Python by using her godly nova blast, but it never worked in the nightmare. She'd be choking for air, paralyzed by fear and wishing Pax could make her as angry as he had in Howe Cavern. Then she could defeat Python. Then she'd be free.

But this time, like the last two times she'd been saved in dream world and when she'd beat Python in real life, it took an external force.

" _Be gone foul creature!"_ someone roared.

Python completely ignored the shout. A dim sparkle of light sprinkled around both of them. The shimmer looked like someone was trying to promote Python on a dating simulator.

Another voice teased, " _Really? You've only been out of the game for what? A few thousand years? And_ that _is all you can do?"_

A different, rosier light warmed Kally's body, loosening the coils.

Last time someone saved Kally from a dream, she'd learned her lesson on accidentally kissing strangers, since they could end up being your long lost half-brother's completely homosexual boyfriend.

With the way these two saved her from her nightmare, Kally wouldn't have even considered it.

Someone slapped through Python's coils with a cheery, _"Goooooood MORNING!"_ nailing Kally in the face.

Kally jerked awake—er—she jerked out of Python's nightmare. Upon a frantic glance around, she could tell she was still dreaming. Or she hoped she was.

Everything blazed with a glaring light. There were celestial bronze columns around an audience chamber. The walls were completely covered with emeralds, glowing Kally's favorite color. The ground felt cold under her fingers—marble? Mirrors reflected more light across the chamber, like the set up in Cabin Six.

But the place looked hollow and empty. There were only two figures standing in front of Kally.

The more her eyes came into focus, the more imperfections she noticed. There were cracks in the columns and emeralds that had fallen off the walls to reveal blackened holes. For some reason, something her priest used to say fluttered through her head: _All material things fall. The only immortal thing is the kingdom of God._

Here was a god's throne room starting to decay.

Then Kally felt the overwhelming pain in her cheek from being sucker slapped by a goddess.

"Oh good! You're up! That's so exciting! Did you have a nice sleep? You don't look like you did. That's my _favorite_ time to wake people. At dawn when they haven't slept at all."

The woman standing before Kally spoke rapidly and with enough cheer that Kally could imagine Euna punching her through several skyscrapers. She would probably agree with Kally: morning people made the worst super villains.

The woman was young, maybe nineteen with brown auburn hair that flowed loosely down her shoulders. She wore a pink pair of yoga pants and a tight work out shirt with floral print. She hopped back and forth and giggled, like she was warming up for a race. Her fingers, hands, and forearms were stained a deep pink and Kally had to wonder how many flowers were killed in the making of those hands.

There was a _Starbucks_ coffee cup in her hands with the words _Mornings Rule!_ on the side.

The man beside her was terrifying. Not in the ax-murderer way though. His hair was golden, flowing in curly locks over his shoulders. His shoulders were broad and Kally could imagine he'd be handsome if he stood up straight and smiled. He wore a dirty purple sheet like a cloak and a ragged, torn shirt and shorts. Instead of looking handsome, he looked like, well, her dad—if Apollo had become a hobo and tried out for the Walking Dead. But none of that was scary. It was his eyes.

They burned like the sun setting along the horizon. Kally felt like those eyes were as ancient as the sun and as omnipresent as light during day. "It's not dawn for her," he chastised the woman.

She giggled. "You know what they say? It's 5:00 AM somewhere." [footnote 1]

"That's not how that saying goes."

"Hey!" She folded her arms and gave him a playful scowl. "Dionysus stole that from _me_ with those military shenanigans. Augh, I used to be _so_ much more popular before the Industrial Revolution! Stupid Antoine Redier!"[footnote 2] She dramatically shook her fist downwards.

Kally really didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but she had no idea what was going on or what the Industrial Revolution had to do with this little inception. "Um, excuse me but—who are you?" she asked timidly.

The woman put a hand to her chest. "I am the beautiful, coveted, adored—"

"Don't listen to her. She kidnaps people to get affection," the man interrupted.

"Helios!" she cried and swatted his shoulder. "Don't spread that rumor! They come to _me_. You're as bad as Hemera."

Helios… Hemera… Kally remembered Axel mentioning something about people Hemera knew.

"Eos!" Kally said. "You're Eos. You're the Titaness—er—Goddess of Dawn. The one that poured out all of Hemera's grains so Euna, Joey, and Axel had to collect them." After everything that happened that day, Kally couldn't believe she remembered that little bit, but Axel had been particularly angry about why they were doing their activity.

"Eh, Titaness. Goddess. I accept eith—wait—no! I did not pour out all of her grains. Is _that_ why Hemera was so indignant all morning? She seemed even snipper than usual. I keep telling her an hour ahead of schedule is a perfectly considerate amount of time to arrive at a house. I mean, Aphrodite was even earlier than I was!"

Kally really didn't want to get into whatever dispute was going on between the Goddess of Dawn and the Goddess of Day, but it wasn't like she could snap her fingers and have an Uber drive her home. "Um, if you didn't, then who did? Not that you would," she quickly added, hoping it wouldn't make Eos angry. Kally figured that people who made this goddess angry just darkened the stains on those rosy fingers.

"That's part of why we're here," the man said. He gave Kally a dazzling grin, literally dazzling since she had to look away or be blinded. Then the light dimmed. "I'm Helios," he said simply. There was a sad emptiness in the explanation.

Eos groaned. "Oh, go on. Say it. 'I used to drive the sun chariot.' And whose fault is it that you don't now? I keep telling you. Early bird gets the worm."

Helios's eyes dimmed further until the glare of his eyes looked filtered by water. "I wouldn't expect you to know who I am," Helios said. "Most of the gods think I've already faded." He touched his forehead, like he was adjusting an invisible crown. His eyes gazed at one of the blackened holes in the wall. "What I wouldn't do for one last ride in my chariot—to watch Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon galloping westward, to see Hemera ahead of me, scattering her mother's mist to prepare the path for the sun." He sighed and closed his eyes.

From his description, Kally could almost envision it. Those must have been the names of his horses. There must have been a lot of glory in striding across the sky—

"And the chicks," Helios added. He opened his eyes and cocked his head thoughtfully to the sky. "That chariot is a babe magnet and Apollo kicked me out before low cut shirts were in fashion. That scoundrel."

Eos swatted him. "Helios! That's gross!"

"What? You spy on people showering in the mornings."

Were all day deities this creepy? Kally didn't remember Axel describing Hemera as this creepy.

"Um..." Kally prompted. "About why you're here..?"

"Oh! Yes! I have an itinerary," Eos said. She snapped her fingers, her coffee disappeared, and a papyrus scroll appeared in her hands. She read aloud, "Scold Kally for not doing her sun salutations to greet her dad…" Eos glanced over her list, frowned, pointed one finger at Kally and said, "Shame."

Helios rolled his eyes.

Eos kept reading. "Wake Kally up so she can save Leo Valdez. Remind her to do sun salutations to greet the morning deities. Startle hiker awake and off a cliff—okay!" She snapped her fingers and the scroll was replaced by a white mug that read _Here Comes the Sun_ and a picture of Kally's dad. "No one has seen Hemera in two days, since that whole cereal incident, when Aphrodite said she had some handsome heroes over to clean up the mess." Eos giggled. "Maybe Hemera isn't fading after all if she's having handsome heroes over. Now, if you ask me, that old bag is being overdramatic and playing hookie—"

"She's not. I worked with Hemera for thousands of years. She's reliable and never takes a sick day," Helios said.

"Except those few months on the North and South Pole—" Eos waved her cup of coffee around.

"Nyx told her to stay home and she deserves some vacation time—"

"Socialist. You know, I'm just as reliable—"

"You're annoying," Helios said. The fiery blaze of his eyes returned as he glanced back at Kally. "Mount Olympus has too many problems for anyone to worry over Hemera's disappearance."

"Aren't they in a time of peace right now? And what was that about Leo Valdez?" Kally asked. Although she hadn't sat through many explanations from the Athena Cabin about the gods, she hadn't heard of any wars going on or problems in Olympus. And Leo seemed in fine shape before she… how had she fallen asleep in the middle of the morning?

Helios shook his head. "I would say the usual fights, but none of them make any sense. Not that their fights ever do—and trust me, I helped sort out all the craziness with Persephone. Man, does she have a creepy husband. But these fights make even less sense than usual. Hephaestus is mad at Aphrodite and Ares for going off on vacation—"

"Which is false because Aphrodite is scheduled for an exfoliating session with Hygieia today and she would NEVER let anything get in the way of that," Eos said like it was common knowledge. She winked at Kally. "It was an article in this week's edition of _The Glade_."

"Athena and Poseidon are in the middle of a fight over some museum that wasn't supposed to originally feature either of them. It was originally supposed to feature Pontus…" Helios gave an exhausted sigh. "How I miss Pontus. Regardless, Artemis and Apollo are trying to chase down the Teusmessian fox, both claiming the other challenged them to it, while Apollo is still trying to hide from Zeus. And Hera and Zeus just got into _another_ fight over some lover or another that Zeus hasn't seen in years—"

"I feel bad for whatever mortal Hera runs into first with her little riddle, 'who knows how to have the secret to a happy marriage better than the goddess of marriage.' If she'd only cheat, she'd be so much happier." Eos giggled.

That might have explained Joey's encounter. Kally thought about her mother with Apollo and felt sick. Every time she heard about a Greek god, it sounded like fidelity was as high on their list of priorities as protecting LGBTQ+ rights was for the Westboro Baptist Church. Maybe people fell out of love after several hundred years but…

"Wait—Did you say Hemera went missing two days ago? Euna, Axel, and Joey helped her yesterday," Kally said.

"You've been asleep for a day and a half," Helios said.

Kally gaped. A day and a half? She didn't even get to do that on weekends.

Eos took a long sip from her mug and glared. " _Someone_ used Morpheus Dust on you and your group. You know that crust you get in your eyes? If you can collect it off Morpheus from one of his naps, it's like, my anti-venom. I tried waking you all morning yesterday but it was like you'd had three bottles of Nyquil."3

"When you do wake up, remember to look out for Hemera. Apollo might not care to watch out for his business partners—" Bitterness seeped into Helios's voice "—but I care. This isn't like Hemera. No one has any qualms against her. I mean, she and Nyx fight a lot, but I don't think Nyx would ever harm her."

Eos gave Helios a skeptical look. "Hemera is too _boring_ for anyone to have qualms with her. Anyway, you're about to wake up. Things will be clearer for you about how to help Leo Valdez and find Hemera."

There was _no_ way Kally would be useful in any situation that one of the Seven couldn't help themselves. "Uh, couldn't you just tell me how things will be clearer now?" she squeaked.

Helios and Eos gave each other a bewildered look. "Do… gods just TELL heroes things now?" Helios demanded. "That's so… distasteful."

Sensible was the word Kally wanted to supply him with, but she felt a chill creeping along her face. Until she fell through the floor, she hadn't realized how warm it was in the audience chamber.

* * *

When Kally woke up, things were not clearer. Her vision was—in fact—blurry, but she could see two furry creatures curled in her hair. One wore an orange _Hero-In-Training_ shirt and the other cradled the remains of some kind of toy. A… decapitated man's head? Bleeding stuffing. Well, it used to be a centaur. She remembered seeing those at Camp Half-Blood's shop.

Someone nearby was crying. It was a quiet, continuous sob, one that made Kally chest hurt with sympathy pangs. She hated when you'd been crying to the point of chest pains and couldn't stop.

"But he'll leave me. You know he will," Pax whined to… someone.

Kally willed herself to stand to see the other person. Her limbs wouldn't work. Everything felt numb. It wasn't the right time of day. Hadn't it been morning? Early morning? Now it was dark, with nothing but her glow stick and a campfire lighting up Hunnie and Baller's fur. When she remembered that weasels liked to store dead things in people's clothing for snacks, she wished she could recoil. From the look of it, Hunnie was… still unmoving.

Every few seconds, Baller would perk up, yawn, and twist his body to climb all over Hunnie. When she didn't react, he'd give her ear a halfhearted nip. After pawing at her, he'd give up and curl back up with his tail dangling over her face.

 _Oh, my little terror muffin_ , another voice spoke. The voice was feminine and warm in a noxious way, like a pillow pre-fluffed to smother someone. Kally wasn't sure she could hear it aloud, but it echoed in her head. Although Kally's arms didn't feel strong enough to lift her body weight, she strained to reach for Hunnie and Baller.

 _I'm sorry you might lose your brother forever, Ajax. Here's a voucher for free ice cream to cheer you up._

Kally managed to get up to her elbows. The weasels rolled out of her hair, Baller with a soft huff. Someone had tucked her into the Morpheus sleeping bag—Pax once told her it belonged to Alabaster, a friend of his from Mount Othrys. Supposedly it granted good dreams, though she was struggling to remember hers clearly. Around her, she found Merry, Joey, and Euna also tucked into various sleeping bags. Whoever had taken care of them—definitely Pax, judging from this last part—had unceremoniously plopped a blanket on the upper half of Calex and left his feet exposed. That was something Kally could see Pax finding evil.

The others in the distance blobs of color. Sometime in the night, her contacts must have dried and popped out of her eyes. Her eyes definitely felt sore and dry enough for it. She fumbled in her bag to produce her backup glasses and slipped them on.

Centaurs and nymphs lay scattered around the campfire. She could hear a rhythmic creaking sound. Upon seeing the startling shine of bronze highlighted in the flickering flames, she realized Festus was snoring on the edge of the camp.

"Forever?" Pax hiccupped. "I'd give up ice cream for the rest of my life if I could stay with Axel. He's all I have left."

 _That's a serious ultimatum,_ the person warned. _Ice cream is delicious. Remember how much you love Reese's Sundaes._

"Even Reese's Sundaes, Mom. Even. Reese's. Sundaes. And what are you saying? Is Axel going to die if he goes to arrest Dad?"

Kally picked up the furry, serpentine bodies of Hunnie and Baller. She expected Baller to bite her. Instead, he curled up into her arms.

 _Oh,_ he'll _die if he goes_ alone _,_ the woman said, like it was an assurance. _But he was always going to die before you Pax… Well, unless your little nightmare-prophecy comes true._

Pax recoiled from… a weird _thing_ sitting in front of him. His legs were crunched up, his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands tugging at his hair. His face looked puffy from crying. At his feet, there was some… weird mix of various creatures: goat parts, feline part, bat wings, and horns. Looking at it, Kally didn't know if she was still dreaming or if a taxidermist had decided to play Mr. Potato with various animals.

"That nightmare won't come true. Axel wouldn't do that," Pax snapped. His tone shook with fear and anger, but tapered almost apologetically. "I don't think. I—I'm sorry. But—but you said alone. Will he be okay if he has his proper fan club?" He gestured vaguely towards Kally and the others without looking up. "How are we supposed to be his Sailor Scouts if he doesn't want us there?"

The creature flicked its reptilian tail up to stroke Pax's cheek. _I'll do what I can to keep the family together. Just keep calm and use that voucher. There should be more for you to steal in Leo's shack_.

Kally wiggled out of the sleeping bag. Despite her attempt to be quiet, the zipper whined.

The creature disappeared.

Pax jumped to his feet. "Kally! You're awake?!" His yellow and black eyes widened in alarm. He rubbed his face on his duster jacket sleeve. "I mean, completely sincere sounding, 'Yay! You're awake!'"

Kally tried to talk. Her mouth felt like it was full of ferret bedding. She adjusted the weasels so she could lean down to withdraw her water bottle from her messenger bag. Once she took a swig, coughed once, and put the water bottle away, she approached Pax.

 _Morpheus Dust_.

Eos's words lingered from her dream. Kally couldn't recall the full conversation, but she slowed down. "What's going on?" She remembered the party and Hera giving Joey her quest, and something about Morpheus Dust. Why had Eos mentioned it?

"Everyone fell asleep after Leo started making Axel's unbreakable buster sword. Except Axel, Leo, and I. I think it's because we're Latino and awesome," Pax said. He perked up and sniffled. "But now that you're awake, we can draw on everyone's faces. Leo said he'd be done with the sword soon so we probably don't have much time before Calex wakes up."

Something about Leo Valdez. All the warmth from the sleeping bag sapped out of Kally. The evening November chill made her shudder, huddling into her sweatshirt. "Where's Leo?" she asked. That's what she was supposed to do. She was supposed to protect Leo. How? Kally wasn't sure. She assumed it would involve her sacrificially tripping and rolling into an enemy so Leo had enough time to get away.

"He and Axel are at his forge, but we could cause way more chaos if we stayed here and—"

Kally walked up to Pax and set her weaselless hand on his arm. "I—" Her mind ground to a halt. What would Merry say? She was so much more assertive and better at this type of thing.

That didn't matter. Merry was asleep. It was completely on Kally to screw this up and either crumble to Pax's wishes and write _I love Manchester United_ all over Calex OR to not be a doormat and put herself in a life or death situation to save Leo Valdez from... something. Assuming her dream with Helios and Eos had been more than just a dream…

When Kally took too long to finish her sentence, Pax supplied her for, "… love chinchillas?"

"What? No—well, yes, but no. That isn't what I was going to say." Kally took a deep breath. "I want to go check on Leo and Axel. Please Ajax."

Pax's eyes narrowed. The alarmed hopefulness of his expression melted into his standard devilish grin. He stood and took a step closer, so he could stroke under Baller's chin, his finger brushing against Kally's sweater as he did. Baller's head bobbed sleepily with each pet. "You know Cyclopes, the only people allowed to call me that are my childhood friends, my family, and my lovers."

In the tiny repertoire of retorts Kally had prepared—pretty much a single retort—Kally wasn't ready for Pax to say that. She felt her face heat up. _He's just trying to distract you_ , the logical part of her brain reminded her. The rest of her brain was encouraging her to walk back to her sleeping bag, hide her face for the rest of eternity, and pretend the conversation never happened.

"Because if you're building a time machine to become one of my childhood friends," Pax said. He tapped her nose with the hand he'd been using to pet Baller. "I would want to know your intentions. I would love to use modern technology to scare some settlers into thinking we're ghosts. We could create some nice mass hysteria."

Kally did her best to glare. "Leo and Axel," she said again. As the grogginess of sleep retreated to awareness, the weirdness of the situation hit her. What had Pax and his mother been talking about? _Had_ that been his mother? She'd never seen a goddess show up in a form like that. Before asking about that, she needed to make sure they were on their way to Leo.

"Maybe I can talk to Axel about… about us coming with him to arrest your dad," she offered.

As much as the Pax boys were great at putting them into life threatening situations, and as scary as Santiago sounded, she didn't want anything bad happening to them. Their ragtag team of seven was pretty strong. If nothing else, she was sure Calex could make Santiago fall in love with a toaster and Joey and Euna could tie him up in some Clematis bindings while he was serenading it.

Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. He took the hand she had on his arm and laced their fingers. "You heard Mom and me talking?" he asked.

"Yea. Your mom was…"

"An awesome whatever," he supplied like that described it perfectly. Without being a helpful term at all, it did do his mother justice. "Kally," Pax hesitated and rolled his thumb across her knuckles. The motion had grown more comforting than panic-inducing over the last month. "He's… he's not a villain for young adult novels. He's a big kid villain, for like, an R-rated movie. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Considering how Python wanted to murder she and her half-brother Will and how the Aphrodite Devils attempted to rip she and Pax apart, she wanted to protest that Santiago would probably feel at home with their other villains. "I'm pretty sure convincing your brother will be way harder than defeating your dad. Axel's pretty stubborn."

Pax hugged Kally. Baller made a loud chirping sound at being crushed between the two of them. Kally squeaked when she felt Baller squirm and claw at her sweater.

Pax started to babble in some other language, then switched over to English. "—go talk to him. Maybe you can convince him to leave Leo's memory alone too. Kally, thank you! I'm sure this'll blow up in our faces, but at least we'll be miserable together!" He released her, allowing Baller to scamper down her leg and disappear into the grass.

"What about Leo's—"

Pax squished Kally's cheeks together with both hands, gave her a kiss, then tugged her towards Leo's shack. With his other hand, he picked up a quiver of arrows off the ground.

As they walked, Kally tried to keep focus and ignore how Pax's lips had felt. She desperately hoped her face wasn't as red as it felt. To distract herself, she asked, "Why do you have a quiver without a bow?" She remembered Pax saying he hated long distance weapons other than his darts. And there didn't seem to be a lot to shoot other than stationary centaurs.

"Axel needs it to make the sword."

Maybe she hadn't paid attention when Nyssa or Matt explained Blacksmithing 101, but that sounded like saying you needed turpentine to make pancakes. "You need a quiver to make a sword?"

"We descend from Greek gods. Recipes get messy sometimes…" Pax glanced over his shoulder at her. "Hey, uh, if you ever want someone there when you talk to your mom, or for ice cream and cry support afterwards, I'm here. Or to punch your dad in the face. I'm always up for punching a god in the face."

Kally's stomach clenched at the thought. She was still terrified of talking to her mother. "You're too much of a coward for that," she managed.

"Yea," he admitted without a hint of offense. "But I could put something in his drink that will make him flatulent. That'll make him WAY more upset than a silly punch."

They laughed. For a moment, Kally forgot that all her other friends were unconscious in the clearing and Leo Valdez was in some kind of danger. She could pretend Pax and she were going for a nighttime hike in the forest. Alarms went off in her head at the words, _put something in his drink_.

 _Morpheus Dust_. They'd toasted before everyone fell asleep hadn't they? Pax had given them Kool-Aid. Kally squinted at Pax's utility belt in the moon and glow stick light. There was a third vial beside his _Sleep_ and _Poison (Do not mix up)._ It was the same one he'd pulled out for Calypso "that worked better than a dream." The vial was mostly empty, only a thin layer of glitter at the bottom.

"You, uh, don't have a thing for Axel, right?" Pax asked. He slipped the quiver's strap over his shoulder so he could take Hunnie from Kally's arm and stuffed her into his jacket like a toy.

Kally glanced away from the vial, hoping she looked calm. Why would Pax do that? He and Axel had done dumb stuff before for "noble" reasons. They'd kidnapped Rachel, so they could save her and gain the trust of the Greeks—all to get the proper equipment to take out their father. But what didn't they want them seeing now? That was just so invasive, and creepy, and overall wrong.

"What?" Kally asked. She needed to keep it cool. But she also had to make sure Pax didn't have a reason to dart her and tuck her right back into the sleeping bag.

They walked around where Festus creak-snored. The shack was bigger than she thought it would be. Around the back, she could see several work benches and a forge two dozen feet away. There were some kind of hybrid torches—lights surrounding the work space. Various types of tools littered the ground. Over to the right was a small greenhouse. Kally had to wonder—if Leo and Calypso hadn't settled down in one spot for long—what kind of transformer move this place did to fit on the dragon.

The ground around the workspace, other than the greenhouse, was bare dirt in a wide radius.

Axel sat on one of the work tables with his legs crossed pretzel style. Although he might have been meditating, Kally could envision a tail irritably flicking behind him. His head twitched at their approach.

He wore what looked like a reflective jumpsuit, complete with booties and gloves. Despite the circumstances, Kally almost hoped he'd do some astronaut break dance. As they got closer, Kally could see the material was… uncomfortably tight on him.

Pax hadn't noticed her unease. "I didn't know if you had a thing for Axel and you were turning me down because of that and not because you're wisely not trusting me."

That was weird to consider. Axel was definitely one of the reasons Merry suggested their group take a trip to the pool at some point. He was an excellent fighter and charismatic leader and the muscles under that silver suit were quite obvious. But…

"Your brother is too cool for me," she said. Plus, she wasn't sure she could trust either brother with how this night was turning out.

"You're… right." Pax added a skip to his walk. "He _is_ too cool for you."

"You don't have to—"

" _Kally_?!" Axel demanded.

She and Pax froze when he rounded on them. For a split second, his jaw was clenched in fury as he rose to his feet. Then he relaxed and he gave her a rough smile. "I'm glad you're awake," he said evenly. As the words came out, he shot Pax a quick glance. "Everyone fell asleep after Leo started working on the blade. I should have known something like that would happen with the curse."

The practiced ease of the lie scared Kally more than the lie itself.

Pax's hand tightened on hers. He set the quiver down on a workbench. "She woke up all on her own, like a big kid," Pax said. "Nice suit. Good for preventing alien abduction and mind reading."

"I've been helping Leo at the forge. He said it would be safer if I wore Calypso's fireproof clothing." As he spoke, Axel examined Kally's face. That was a familiar look, the same one her parents gave her brother, John, when he'd messed up: a forcibly neutral expression that said _I still care about you, but what am I going to do with you now that you've screwed up?_

A tension spread through Kally's chest. She wanted Pax to let go of her hand and Axel to take a step back.

"Man, I really don't like this thing. It gives me the heebie-jeebies—"

Kally exhaled in relief when Leo walked out from the shack, something oblong in his hands. His arm and face were covered in soot and sweat. Those elfish features were slack from exhaustion and worry. When he glanced up to see Kally, his brown eyes lit up with excitement. "Someone is up? Are the others awake? Is Calypso okay?"

As he asked, he rushed over to another work table. Until then, Kally hadn't registered the comatose person. Calypso was on top of the table, curled up on a roll-out matt with several layers of blankets, including a fancy electric one.

"Hey, Sunshine, stop being so lazy! Wake up… please," he called to the resting girl. When she didn't stir, he frowned and punched the edge of the table.

"I'm the only one up," Kally said. She wanted to tell Leo that Helios and Eos were worried about him, but he didn't need the extra stress. This kid looked like he hadn't slept in… well, a day and a half.

"I told you they'd probably start to wake up once you finished the sword. Maybe the curse just needs to wear off," Axel supplied. He took a step closer to Leo, examining the object in Leo's arms. It was wrapped in a colorful beach towel. Well, Kally assumed it was normally colorful. In the dim torch lighting, the towel was just striped.

"Calypso had better be okay," Leo muttered.

"If Kally is up, I'm sure the others will wake up soon," Axel said. He glanced at Pax, like he was looking for affirmation.

Pax lifted his hands up, Kally's included, as if to say _not it, bro._

If Kally hadn't been suspicious of the Pax brothers before, she took that exchange as a plea of, _guilty and shameless_.

Axel turned back to Leo. "But you _did_ finish it, right?"

"This sword isn't worth all the trouble," Leo grumbled. He released the towel with one hand to stroke Calypso's cheek. Judging from the smears of soot across her head, Kally assumed this had been a standard procedure each time Leo walked past.

He wrapped his hand back around the towel and turned to Axel, glaring. "I don't know how to explain it hombre, but it didn't want to _be_ a sword. I had to really fight with the metal. I know we had a deal, but the deal was to _make_ the sword. Not to have my girlfriend cursed into Sleeping Beauty. I feel like I'm carrying around thirteen black cats and a broken mirror with this thing. If she and the others don't wake up in the next hour, we're melting it."

"Of course," Axel agreed. "Kally, Pax, can you go check on the others to see if they're waking up? We probably shouldn't leave them vulnerable in the forest."

Every muscle in Kally's body encouraged that notion—that survival and snacks were back towards the others. But something about this whole scenario was giving her goose bumps. Although Pax was already tugging at her hand, she didn't budge.

"No," she said.

The Pax brothers stared her.

"I—"

 _You're not a doormat_ , she scolded herself. _And it's just Axel._

"I want to see the sword first," Kally said. That wasn't true. She never wanted to see what had caused all of this, but she wasn't supposed to leave Leo by himself. Her instinct had made that much clear.

There was a pause where she wouldn't have been shocked if Axel told her to go to her room, in his best Dad impression ever, disregarding the hundreds of miles preventing that.

Axel clenched his jaw.

Then he sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Very well. Leo, let's see if this was worth all the trouble."

"It wasn't, but whatever," Leo grumbled. He shoved a set of tools off a work table to put the towel on it. Axel, Kally, and Pax all gathered around as Leo unwrapped the towel.

Kally shuddered.

The sword was a xiphos, a double-edged, one-hand Greek blade. Those were common in Camp Half-Blood. What was uncommon was the coloration of the blade. One half gleamed with celestial bronze. The other half shined with steel.

As Axel's fingers wrapped around the grip, Kally heard an undeniable growl from the blade, _Hello Lieutenant_. A wave of malice billowed from the blade, like its past occupation was decapitating puppies.

"Yea, and that's the creepiest part. That happens sometimes when you touch the metal and it sounds about as friendly as a clown in a dark parking lot," Leo said.

Pax whispered, "Don't discriminate against clowns. They have funny feelings too." Although he tried to joke, Kally could hear the tremble in his voice. He pulled her gently from the table.

Axel's arm seized. He grunted and lifted the blade. He began to shake and sweat.

"Why do you even want this sword man? It's _no bueno_ ," Leo said. "Uh… man?"

"Because…" Axel's voice dropped to a gravely tone, the same he used to scare her brother John. Kally felt the pressure drop. Her ears popped. The torches around them dimmed with the next gust of wind. One sputtered out.

"Its name is Backbiter," Axel growled. His arm stopped shaking.

" _It was reforged to fight oppression and dethrone rulers that should have rotted with their archaic methods centuries ago_." Axel spun the sword in his hand. The blade flashed wickedly in the disappearing torch light and Kally thought she could hear it scream.

Pax dragged Kally backwards a step. "Bad timing for him to have an episode," Pax whispered.

 _An episode?_ Kally wanted to demand, but she was too scared. With each movement Axel made, she felt herself tremble more. _What_ was happening?

Two things sprouted along either side of Axel's hair.

Leo took a quick step back, towards Calypso. "Wow—dude—"

The voice was no longer Axel's, but a guttural mimic. " _And it was supposed to be_ _ **mine**_."

Pax spoke rapidly, "Hey, uh, Axel, you're doing that thing—"

Axel grunted. He crunched his eyes closed and clutched at his head with his free hand. As his fingers made contact with his hair, whatever was along his hairline disappeared.

Axel collapsed onto his knees. He hugged himself, breathing heavily. The sword was still firmly clutched in one hand.

"Okay! Sword is definitely being melted!" Leo shouted and stood defensively in front of Calypso's table. From what Kally could see, he'd already set his hands on fire. "Possessions are _not_ okay at Camp Leo!"

"Hold up," Pax said. He released Kally's hand to kneel near Axel, though strategically out of sword slashing distance. " _Ola_ ," he said.

Axel grunted. "I'm okay." The voice sounded like his, though strained. "I'm okay."

He dropped the blade.

Leo immediately whisked it up.

"Wait," Axel called.

"You're in a no-waiting-zone," Leo stated. "This baby's gotta burn."

"I helped you make it. I want to help you destroy it," Axel gasped.

He rose to his feet. There was no golden glint to his eyes, like she'd seen in the van. There were no elongated teeth. He looked like a tired, sweaty eighteen-year-old, only standing due to determination. His limbs had stopped shaking and he straightened his posture. Kally couldn't place it, but there was still something wrong with him.

He'd given up too easily.

To get this far, Axel lied to the Romans and the Greeks. He'd kidnapped the Oracle. He'd risked fighting the automaton monster that killed his childhood guardian for the chance at this sword. Kally might not have known what just happened to Axel or what an "episode" was, but she knew he would never submit with so little fight.

"Kally, let's go stuff some crickets in Calex's sleeping bag before he wakes up," Pax suggested. He rose from where he'd been kneeling beside Axel, stepped to her side, took her hand, and pulled.

Leo raised a skeptical eyebrow at Axel. "There's not much to destroying it. Unless you want to roast marshmallows over the fire I'm about to make."

Pax tugged at her hand again, urgently. When she glanced at him, she saw his cheeks had puffed up. He nodded back towards the campfire. She shook her head and glanced back to Axel. No—no, she _definitely_ wasn't leaving after whatever Axel just did.

Axel picked up a silver mask off one of the work benches. It matched the rest of the fireproof suit. When he slipped it over his head, the material seemed to mesh into the rest of the suit, making an impermeable seal. Kally had to wonder how he—or Calypso for that matter—could breathe in it.

Leo didn't wait for him. He got about two paces towards his forge.

Then Axel grabbed him.

The motion was too fast for Kally to shout a warning.

Axel stepped behind Leo and wrapped an arm around his neck. From the self-defense classes she'd been learning from Mr. Paine, she could tell Axel had pinched the arteries to Leo's head, crushing his throat between Axel's bicep and forearm.

Leo had seven seconds before he'd be unconscious.

With the same motion, Axel lifted Leo off the ground. With his other hand, he grabbed Leo's sword arm and _snapped_ his wrist. The sword fell to the ground.

As it did, flames burst around Leo, engulfing them both.

The fire skyrocketed into the sky. She'd never seen anything explode like that. As they vanished, she could see Axel clasp Leo's last functional hand and Leo kick frantically backwards.

Heat nailed the exposed skin on her face and hands. The moisture wicked out of the air. There was no way someone could survive that.

Kally tried to run forward. She didn't know _what_ she was going to do. There wasn't enough water around to dowse that fire, if she _could_ dowse it. She couldn't see Axel to drag him off Leo, and probably couldn't wrestle Axel down if she could see him. And she didn't have a fireproof suit.

"STOP!" she shouted, hoping someone at their campfire would hear her. Maybe Calex could force one of them to fall in love with a random tree so they'd break it up or Merry could talk them down or Joey and Euna could snap up roots from the ground to separate them or Festus could do whatever dragons do that didn't involve killing Axel or stealing gold.

But all of them were asleep. When she felt Pax's hand clamp down on hers, she remembered why everyone was asleep.

"Kally—wait—" he said. His yellow eye gleamed fiercely in the firelight. The flicker of the flame cast shadows into his wild dark hair. Between that and the way his duster jacket billowed, Kally felt like she'd been fraternizing with a monster.

"Let go—" Kally yanked her arm away from him.

Pax stepped forward to brace against her. "This is just a misunderstanding. We didn't mean for things to—ha ha—flare up like this—and as long as Axel doesn't get—tee hee—carried away with Leo—"

Despite the laughter in his voice, he looked scared. He glanced past her at the conflagration. The flames were dying. Leo must have run out of time.

In that split second, she stopped trying to pull away from Pax, reversed her movement, and slammed her elbow into his gut. As Pax doubled over to clutch his stomach, she followed through with her other hand in an open palm strike. When her palm made contact with his jaw, light flashed out of the tips of her fingers, bright enough to blind someone wearing Apollo brand sunglasses.

Pax released her and toppled backwards.

She hadn't knocked him unconscious—just bought herself some time. He sat on the dirt, gasping for air and clutched his eyes with one hand. Pax couldn't breathe enough to whine, " _Ay!"_

The heat disappeared off her back, replaced by a chilled wind.

Kally whirled towards where the flames had been.

Smoke sizzled up into the night air, half obscuring the scene. Sections of the dirt smoldered in a way that made Kally want to call for a fire alarm for any building within three miles, [footnote 4] though the dirt circle had been wide enough to avoid the trees. As the coils of grey dissipated, she could see two figures.

Leo lay in the dwindling embers, his neck bruising. Both his hands were bent at odd angles. Although Kally was terrified he might be dead, she had to note an oddity in his clothing. Nothing had even been singed. Kally didn't know they made explosion resistant clothing.

Apparently Axel's fireproof suit was made from the same material. Although blackened, she could see a silvery figure walk to a nearby work bench. Axel swiped something off the surface—the quiver Pax had brought out—and withdrew a cloth from therein.

He knelt beside Leo and pressed the cloth into Leo's face.

"Axel, stop!" Kally shouted and ran towards him.

She expected him to be a pile of ash, not smothering Leo with arrow dirt. That had terrified her. _What_ had Axel been _thinking_?! Why would he do that?

When she approached, Axel withdrew the cloth. He pulled the mask off.

Kally dropped beside Leo to check his pulse and injuries. He was alive, but would need a _lot_ of ambrosia. Despite the flames and struggle, Axel had done an expert job knocking Leo out without crushing his trachea.

"It's just water from the River Lethe, so he won't remember reforging Backbiter," Axel said softly. He grabbed a clasp on his neck. Once he touched it, the silvery suit expanded and peeled off, revealing his _Ares hides from me at night_ shirt.

Kally needed to get her messenger bag from the area with the others. All her ambrosia was in there. She was rested enough to sing, but Will had taught her to start with ambrosia when—

"Axel, why…" Although her question began with a fury, she trailed off when she saw how intensely he examined her.

His eyes gleamed gold in the moonlight. He couldn't quite close his jaw because of how his fangs slipped over his lips. "The less people who know about the sword, the better," Axel explained. He'd detached the entire suit, except the gloves.

The way he said it made Kally think of how good a fighter he was. That and the horrifying bear trap of a mouth. She scrambled to her feet.

Axel rose beside her, except he was much taller than she remembered. Kally craned her neck to look up at him, stumbling a step back.

Axel stepped over Leo's body towards her, readying the Lethe-soaked rag.

"Axel—s—stop. You're scaring me," she whispered. _Stupid. You, Kally, are stupid_ , her brain helpfully reminded her instead of supplying an escape strategy.

Axel paused in his approach, letting her increase the distance between them. When she glanced down, she saw he'd stepped on the edge of that cursed sword. " _You should be scared of me_ , _Kalypso Kassand, Daughter of Apollo,_ " he whispered. His voice slipped into that gargle.

Kally shrieked when she backed into someone.

Pax stood behind her. From the way he still clutched his face with one hand, she figured he couldn't fully see. Instead of grabbing her, Pax slid between she and Axel. He held his other hand out in Axel's general direction. Although he was visibly trembling, Pax muttered, "You hit REALLY hard, you know that Cyclopes? Next time I'm in trouble for stealing, I'm cowering behind you."

" _Bring her to me, Silver Tongued Snake,"_ Axel growled.

There was a moment where Kally felt like the wind gods were holding their breath. She didn't have a weapon. Judging by the way Axel's calves had gained an awkward, animalistic curve, she figured she couldn't outrun him. Even if she could, she could also envision getting to the van and Axel and Pax patiently waiting outside, eating popcorn, as she stalled the manual transmission over and over. Fighting them would result in some sort of death or memory deprivation. No one else was awake to help.

Kally felt like she was caught in Python's coils again when all she had left to do was pray. But how much good did praying do when you know the gods didn't always listen?

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed—even if that means you hated me a little bit for it XD

* * *

Here are some songs that inspired this scene:

(of course) Emperor's New Clothes—Panic! At the Disco watch?v=7qFF2v8VsaA

Don't Mess with Me—Temposhark watch?v=OMeWTcPOLGg

And MOST prominently, this male cover of Control, originally by Halsey: watch?v=k4zsvL3z348

* * *

Footnotes:

1 Random fact: Jimmy Buffett actually _trademarked_ the phrase "It's five o'clock somewhere" and took legal action against a shoe company for using the phrase. Imagine if Rebecca Black could sue us every time we shouted, "It's Friday!" People would be getting wrecked at the end of every school week.

2 He patented the alarm clock. There were others before him that definitely had clocks that could ring at certain times of day, dating incredibly far back with ancient Greece and the Tang Dynasty of China, but Redier's patent lead to mass production. So next time you throw your alarm clock through a wall, you should make a bull's eye with the name "Antoine Reider" at which to throw it.

3 And Jack feels obligated to say: don't do that at home kids. It can definitely wreck your stomach.

4 Plus, it would disrupt classes for a bit.


	26. Ajax: We Can Still Get Ice Cream, Right?

Twenty Six: Ajax

So… It is too Awkward for Us to get Ice Cream after This..? It's Not, Right?

Pax may have had a minor lapse in judgment. Okay, maybe a major lapse in judgment. But judgment was lapsy for him. Especially in situations where your brother drops some of his Mist mask in front of your almost-girlfriend and makes some unfriendly advances towards her.

Pax could envision the defense now, _"Don't worry. It's just like we're giving you a major concussion. You won't remember a thing."_

Yea, that was going to be added to the list of Things That Don't Scream "Date Me:"

1\. Battling Rodents

2\. Crazed Brothers with _Forget-Me-Lots_ rags

3\. Restraining Orders

Anyway, Pax had screwed up. He could see that now—well, he couldn't _actually_ see it, as he was rather blind at the moment, but the general sentiment was there.

Drugging their friends with delicious Kool-Aid? He'd rather look at it like he'd eased them into a well earned nap, with complimentary sleeping bags and weasel snuggles.

And Axel wasn't _supposed_ to give Leo an exaggerated bear hug in the original plan… or break both of his wrists… or choke him. They were supposed to toast with the same Sleepy Time Kool-Aid over a blacksmith's job well done and some delicious tofu burgers. But Kronos also wasn't supposed to have some weird, residual essence in Backbiter that called out of Axel's _b'alam_ side. Funny how the Fates worked that right? One moment you're going to have a delightful midnight picnic with a handsome Latino blacksmith and the next you're telling your brother that psycho behavior _might_ not be the best way to keep friends.

Pax would have to send the Fates a very friendly Christmas card this year.

Although everything was still blurry, Pax put one hand up towards Axel and one hand backwards to push against Kally like a referee calling, _STOP! Hammer time_.

Pax just hoped Kally didn't start to run, since he knew Axel's predator instinct might kick in and he _really_ didn't want a slapstick chase scene that ended in an uncomfortable letter to Apollo of, _Please resurrect your daughter. I really like her and my brother and I may have goofed up a bit._

"Axel, let's tone it down on the whole maniacal behavior thing. I think Phobetor would give you a standing ovation on the fear factor and execution, but—"

Axel sighed in annoyance, a gesture that made Pax want to mimic the motion in relief. It meant this was still dominantly his brother and not the Leonis Caput. " _We've done this dozens of times little hero,"_ Axel said.

That was true. There was even this one time with a Roman senator and his elephant—well, that didn't matter now.

"But not to a friend!" The anger in Pax's shout surprised him. Maybe he'd been holding in a little more resentment than he realized or maybe he just felt that tonight was a good night for vocal projection. "This isn't a discussion—we're not messing with Kally's head like this. Maybe other ways, but not like this."

There was no way to know how much someone might forget with the River Lethe. Yea, they could give someone a brief press with a diluted dose to estimate a few weeks to a few months memory loss but… Kally might not even remember she was demigod if they did that. She also would forget that Pax was a scumbag, made bad life choices, and that she owed him nine drachma and ten Reese's.

"Leo won't remember making the sword. No one else knows and Kally can't exactly go around shouting it to the world with her River Styx pact," Pax said. The spots in his eyes were fading. He might be able to see Axel's disappointment in full in a few seconds.

Axel's shoulders relaxed and he tilted his head. Those eyes looked more sad than angry. " _Do you really think she'll ever love you after this?_ "

Pax squirmed. All he ever wanted was to meet a good person and have a happily ever after with a happy, functional family. Mattias and Jack had always teased him for falling in love fast and hard and planning things way too far into the future—he'd have Baller and Hunnie wear a tuxedo and dress for his and Kally's supposed wedding. But Axel and Pax had done a lot of awful things under Kronos's order. Pax wasn't a good person. Maybe _he_ didn't deserve a Disney ending where he got to walk off singing and trip over forest critters that wouldn't get out of the way (cue Hunnie and Baller again in their tiny suit and dress).

Although he could feel a loved section of scumbag die on his inside, Pax choked out, "That doesn't matter." _Augh, that hurt. Punched right in the morals. What is this feeling of righteousness?_ "This is wrong. This is something Flynn would do."

" _THIS is wrong?_ " Axel growled skeptically. Pax was really happy Axel didn't enlist all their deviousness to prove a point for all those in the audience who hadn't been paying attention. Instead, his golden eyes shifted past Pax, to Kally. " _There's no shame in forgetfulness, Kalypso Kassand. No one can hold you accountable if you don't remember_." His voice was slipping; Axel was losing control. " _Just know, if you break your vows of silence and I lose Backbiter before I can slay Santiago…_ " His tongue flicked out to lick his lips. _"I will find you and add you to my collection of souls._ "

Pax thought his metaphor could have been better. Plant you in my garden of flowery death. Use you as flour for my cookies of destruction. Bookmark you in my library of chaos. [footnote 1]

"Axel… what's wrong with you?" Kally asked quietly. Under the hand he had protectively behind him, he could feel her shaking like she'd taken the ice bucket challenge. Pax understood the sentiment; it would be cold to do the ice bucket challenge in the middle of November.

But Axel had just gone a few miles too far. Erasing some of the memory of some random hero that apparently saved the universe? Eh. Threatening Kally so he could _slay_ their dad…

"This isn't you talking," Pax said. "It's the Leonis Caput—"

" _WE'RE THE SAME PERSON_!" the frustrated scream came with the lovely harmony of Axel's baritone paired with the Leonis Caput's gravely bass.

"Wow—yea, that. Axel would never have such a silly slip of his anger management. _That_ is Kronos's monster. _You_ are my brother born of the primordial awesome and I am NOT afraid of annoying you back into acting like yourself—now step off of that _stupid_ sword!"

The forest was eerily quiet for a second. Pax could hear the sizzling of dirt as the last batches of superheated earth cooled. Other than that and the torches quietly flickering in the night, he couldn't hear anything except his own heartbeat. The thump was inconveniently loud, like Apollo had picked his skull as a new drum.

Axel grunted and staggered forward, off the blade. Pax could tell he was trying to count internally, to regain control. This had always happened as their helmets' magic waned, a little more of the memories seeping through, of Axel massacring Romans in the Labyrinth as sacrifices to Kronos. Normally they weren't this bad, but normally Kronos's essence didn't crash the party. Rude.

Axel clutched his head and made a low whining noise. Still manly, Pax would assure if he ever told the tale later. This time when Axel collapsed to his knees, Pax could tell that was actually his brother. Axel immediately started rubbing his Mist mask on, smearing away the teeth, crazy eye color, and other nice Halloween rave gear.

Disaster averted! Pax relaxed. He often woke up and thanked the gods his brother hadn't gone on a murderous rampage. Pax was a person of habit; he really hadn't wanted to change that morning routine.

Someone giggled by one of the work benches.

Kally and he jumped. Axel probably would have if he wasn't acting all tragic and angsty.

A girl sat on one of the work benches. She looked about Pax's age, maybe a little younger at fifteen or so. She had short, jagged black hair, streaked with various shades of red, purple, and white. Her eyes glistened a bloody red, wide with glee, a lot like how Pax's mothers did in human form. Dirt smeared her face, arms, and neck, making it hard to tell how tan she actually was. She wore a black, torn up shirt that read _I Solemnly Swear that I am Up to No Good_ and some weird black mesh of shorts. She would have been beautiful, like a brightly colored viper, except Pax knew they were a little too closely related for that.

"Atë," Pax greeted the Goddess of Mischief and Ruin.

"Have you ever watched a monster turn?" she asked, tilting her head as she examined Axel's struggle. "They don't talk about that part in the myths, how a human loses its humanity. It's like how they montage training sequences in action movies. You never get to really appreciate the gradual attrition of character and decay of moral."

"That was really uplifting. Thanks for dropping by," Pax said.

She flashed Pax a psychotic smile. "I haven't seen you since the day before the Battle of Mount Othrys. Oh Ajax!" He cringed at the memory and her use of his first name. "I still haven't decided with you. Will you be more gullible or reckless or trusting?" She giggled again. "Mom said to check up on you and the sword. You father will ascend tomorrow morning if he's not stopped. Are you as excited as I am for the ensuing chaos?"

Axel made a pained grunt, but didn't lift his head from his hands.

The pieces started to fall into place and make about as much a sense as a Salvador Dali painting. The little acts of mischief, the fighting amongst the Olympians, and the silly errands they'd been sent out to do. Pax might have been mighty proud if he didn't feel like his mom and sister had dressed him up as a pretty doe for deer hunting season. "You and Mom have been having some good bring-your-daughter-to-work days, huh? Weren't you, uh, thrown off Olympus though? How're you uh—" Pax wasn't sure how she referred to her hobbies. "—working with the gods?"

"I was tossed down. Now I can spend more time with demigods and mortals. I dote on your kind far more than the rest of the family." Atë leaned forward to give Kally a small wave, one that only entailed curling her fingers like she was catching elusive dandelions, or plucking out someone's tendons. With Atë's general demeanor, he assumed the latter to be more accurate to her tortured, artistic soul.

Kally stiffened.

You know that awkward, slightly racist, incredibly conservative uncle that you don't want to introduce to your friends for fear of him saying all gypsies are Satan spawn? Atë was that relative if that relative had just been bailed out of jail for burning down orphanages for handicapped children. Pax preferred to keep an all inclusive mentality about his family, but he had a friend or two from handicapped orphanages and liked them less on the crispy side.

"Kally, that's Atë, my half-sister on the godly side," Pax muttered. [footnote 2] "Atë, this is Kally, my… uh, well she was my almost-girlfriend of about ten minutes ago." Now Pax could probably add Kally to the list of people who would like to see him in a ditch with a sign that read, _pour steaming coffee here_ , over his head.

Kally cleared her throat. "Friend," she corrected quietly. Which was way better than someone who wanted to pour steaming coffee over his head. "Are you the one who set Athena and Poseidon against each other?"

Atë giggled again like a broken Ferbee. "Again, _I_ can't mess with the Olympians. But heroes… Heroes can go _anywhere_." In a swirl of smoke, Atë disappeared off the bench and reappeared inches from Pax's face. He could smell the reek of iron and see flecks of dried blood crusting her shirt. Ways to encourage a midnight appetite.

"Are you going to be Mom's champion?" she asked, stroking a finger under his chin.

When Hunnie woke up, he decided he'd need to sit his furry friends down and find out if getting pets under the chin felt this demeaning and creepy for the weasels. If so, he'd make sure they got appropriate weasel therapy and carnivore friendly lollipops as an apology gift.

Pax didn't want to be anyone's champion. He wanted to make sure Dad didn't hurt people. He wanted to make sure Axel was safe and sane, and not a whimpering mess. He wanted to go back to Camp Half-Blood and spend the rest of his life helping the Stoll brothers make Chiron miserable and doting on Kally with homemade shirts and cookies. But he was sure, if he said that, Atë would just counter, " _Yea, and I want Apollo to reinvent the Black Plague, and wipe out half of humanity. We can't all have what we want."_

When Pax hesitated, Atë pinched his cheek. "The fate of Camp Half-Blood might boil down to whichever side you choose, chaos or peace. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll make the wrong choice."

Smoke burst in front of him and she was gone, leaving Pax to wonder if he and Axel may have screwed up way more than he had thought.

* * *

Thanks for reading! :D We're getting so close to the ending! I'm about two chapters away from finishing the writing. After that, I'm hoping to start posting chapters twice a week since I can focus more on editing ^.^

So, probably not the chapter to ask this self-indulgent question, since-you know-this is actually a plot relevant chapter and not one of the fluffier ones, but do you guys ship any of these characters? A few readers brought up their ships with me (thanks V!) and now Pax is poking me in the ear to ask _everyone's_ ships. He says this can include PJO canon characters, Traitor of Olympus canon characters, and weasel canon-I tried telling Pax we only have two weasels. He said we also have Octavian -.- If you'd like to grant mercy on my ear, leave your ships in the comments so I can read them to Pax!

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Footnotes!

1 Pax has a full list of these, but Jack had to burn the list so this chapter didn't go on for too long.

2 I know you're either a Wiki search away from who Pax's mom is or—for those of you more into mythology or _My Little Pony_ —you've already figured it out. But this author is stubbornly not going to write her name down until she introduces herself to the cast.


	27. Aj: Learning Nothing in Life is Free

Twenty-Seven: Ajax

Learning Nothing in Life is Free… Except Free Vouchers

There is no good way to apologize for death threats. Sure, you could send someone flowers and a note that said _I'm sorry I threatened to kill you. Dinners on me_ , but that didn't feel sincere. Pax could tell that's exactly what Axel was thinking each time he glanced at Kally. Well, except without the _dinner on me_ part, since that would be too much like a date and would be weird for all parties.

Once Axel gained full control of himself, he looked like he needed a two year vacation to Disneyworld. His eyes looked solemn and exhausted. His face was pale and sweaty. When he stood up, his legs wobbled.

Despite his danger status being at _level newborn_ , Kally gave him a wide berth when she went to heal Leo Valdez. Pax figured it might be awhile before the two could partake in group hugs.

"What was your sister talking about?" Kally asked while kneeling beside the son of Hephaestus. She wouldn't make eye contact with either of them, but took one of Leo's hands into her lap. As she sang to heal his wrists, her voice quivered.

"I don't know, but it sounded pretty end-of-the-worldy," Pax said. He tried to think of something else to say to her that might explain away some of their actions or maybe something cheery like, " _Good thing you have nightmares about Python every night so you don't need to worry about Axel and I showing up_." That didn't really feel appropriate.

 _Red Alert_ : _The Silver Tongued Snake has run out of words_.

Axel's eyes drifted until they fixated on Pax. Had this not been Axel, a being that was—as far as Pax was concerned—a gift from the gods of _Awesome_ and _Wow_ , Pax would have said Axel looked scared and confused.

"We need to get all of you back to Camp Half-Blood," he Axel. He staggered over to the work bench with the brightly colored beach towel. He grabbed it and walked to Backbiter. The blade still lay on the ground, glistening sinisterly in the moonlight and torchlight.

Both Kally and Pax flinched when Axel wrapped up the blade.

"You're not seriously going to keep that sword are you? I mean, you go all 'Here's Johnny!' when you touch the metal," Pax said.

Axel frowned.

That was the worst Pax had ever seen Axel struggle with the Leonis Caput. Considering Axel had even been wearing a silver onesie and still looked terrifying, that meant this was pretty serious. That was the real monstrosity there: adult onesies.

"Help me get everyone back into the van," Axel said.

* * *

By "help me get everyone back into the van," Axel had really meant, "Watch me pass out in the back and do all the work for me." After Axel collapsed halfway into the van and Pax dragged him the rest of the way inside. Pax took Hunnie out of his pocket and gently placed her on Axel's face. Within moments, Baller hopped into the back and rushed to investigate the beach towel at Axel's side. Experimentally, Baller bit at the material.

Pax hoped that the sword wouldn't call some inner demon out of Baller. He really didn't want to fight a ten foot long weasel wielding a sword and demanding beef jerky.

The next half hour was a little awkward. While Kally fixed up Leo, Pax raided the shack for leftover stew and to-go boxes. Pax even _paid_ for the stew and wished he could write up a little citation notice for Leo about violating California Code SB-1221 from Officer Doofus. Leo wouldn't remember who that was, but that might make it even better. Unfortunately, he figured Kally wouldn't be in the mood to transcribe for him.

Pax swiped a few of those vouchers his mom had mentioned off the counter and walked outside to meet Kally.

She'd finished fixing up Leo and managed to drag him onto the work table beside Calypso. While Pax was inside pillaging, she must have gathered her messenger bag. Pax frowned when she saw her hand defensively on her Argonaut statue.

"I stole each of us free vouchers for Reese's Sundays," Pax informed her, holding up the slips of paper. "Located at _Moma's Sweets_ only a ten minute drive without donkey power."

"Free vouchers are meant to be taken," Kally said.

"Oh, well, I legally acquired them," he said with a devilish grin. That somehow sounded more sinister and Pax would have normally been proud of it.

She didn't crack a smile. Those green eyes were soul crushing. She tried to stand up tall and look authoritative, though Pax could see she was still shaken. "When we get back to Camp Half-Blood, you're telling Chiron everything."

 _That_ sounded about as smart as skydiving with a trash bag. Pax opened his mouth to protest.

Kally continued, gulping, "If you don't, I—I will."

That was like skydiving with one of those complimentary, airplane throw-up bags, prefilled for grossness. "Uh, eternal torment. Orkus—" Pax reminded her. His heart thumped in his ears. The little stunt with the River Styx might be back firing.

"I don't care. What happened to Axel back there wasn't good for him and he's not fit to… do whatever with your dad. Obviously you really want to stop your dad, but—but maybe we should leave it to the real heroes. Maybe, if we tell Chiron, Jason Grace or Percy Jackson can do it."

 _The real heroes_.

 _Ow, my tiny bit of pride._ Getting hit in the pride and the righteousness all in one day? Pax was waiting for someone to finish him off, to tell him he _wasn't_ cuter than a baby panda, and send him to tears. Though by nature of how pathetic and adorable he would look while crying, he might be able to disprove their claim.

A part of him screamed that Jason and Percy weren't any better than he or Axel. He, Axel, and Alabaster had been training to and probably could have taken them out, but that tidbit of information _might_ not help defend his case.

The rest of him realized she was right. Relief flooded over him when he thought about someone else—some _real_ heroes—arresting their dad. Axel had always said it was a family matter, but Pax didn't care. If Piper, or Jason, or Annabeth were on the line against the Pax family, it would mean Axel was safe, hiding with him. They wouldn't need the stupid Golden Net or Backbiter.

"We could hold a game show to find out which hero gets the quest and a complimentary shirt—" As he spoke, he could see the rims around her eyes getting red. Yea, he couldn't handle it if she started crying, because he would definitely start to cry too and then Ares would show up and beat them both up for being wimps and take their lunch money, or at least rob Leo's shop since that's where all of Pax's lunch money had gone.

"Sorry," he cut himself off. _No jokes. No jokes_ , he chanted in his head to keep focused. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them. He wanted to make everything right. This might have been the best way. "I'll tell Chiron everything. I… I swear on the—"

"Stop." She held up a hand and took a step closer to him, eyes wide. "I—I don't want anyone to have a River Styx curse. And I want to know that you're going to do it because you're going to do it, not because you're afraid of eternal pain or whatever."

Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. He realized he'd messed up a good thing with Kally, but he didn't realize how good a thing it could have been until that response. She really was a fantastic person. He couldn't shake the feeling that he and Axel didn't deserve good people. "Can I quote you on a motivational poster?" he asked.

Something about the way he looked at her must have cued Kally in to the type of adoration he was feeling. She blushed, then scowled. "Shut up, I'm still mad at you."

"Cyclopes got fangs," he teased. Upon seeing the way she gripped her Argonaut statue, he held his hands up. "Sorry—I'm sorry. You have every right to be mad." _Don't joke. Don't make a joke_. _Keep it together man!_

She sighed and motioned towards the van. "This is why I didn't agree to date you."

Pax glanced around at the general, torched vicinity. "Uh, because you knew I'd assist in an amazing party then bring about the reforging of a talking sword that belonged to the Grinch Who Stole Olympus? Er, tried to?" He walked alongside her, towards their friends. Pax almost reflexively grabbed her hands, but realized that would probably incite a good lesson in karma, taught with fists.

"Because I can't trust you," she said. Kally didn't make eye contact, but Pax could tell it wasn't just because she was upset. Her gaze was distant. " _The forge ambushed in the lion's maw. Not to flame or plea will force withdraw,_ " she quoted.

Pax winced. Couldn't Rachel have told Kally, _"That Axel dude is going to attack Leo. Attacking back or begging him to stop won't do anything, so prepare a good pep talk._ "

Kally frowned and continued. "I think Joey's quest is one of the dominos Rachel was talking about. Things are about to get serious."

* * *

When they got out to the van, Euna was awake and raiding the to-go boxes. As she munched and they approached, she gave them an absent wave. She didn't seem the slightest bit concerned that everyone was fast asleep around her.

If Pax wasn't absolutely sure she would kick the snot out of him for it later, he'd prop a box up with a stick, put a cheeseburger under there, and see if Euna would get boxed. But, knowing Flower Girl's power, she'd probably bring the box and stick to life and they would go Groot on him. Recycling at its most violent.

Several of the satyrs and nymphs were yawning and sitting up. Calex was up and stretching as well.

Pax wondered if everyone had happy dreams of rainbows, sunshine, and rodents. Morpheus Dust was supposed to grant happy dreams from what he remembered. From the way Calex looked relaxed and not sad over his mom and brother, he guessed Calex had a nice dream about cleaning Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang's house for them, then fetching coffee for Percy and Annabeth afterwards.

"Hey Calex, Euna, can you help us get everyone in the van?" Kally asked. "We need to get to Chiron as fast as possible."

Kally might as well have sprinted up to Calex, socked him in the stomach, and shouted, " _I grew a backbone Scrum Lord! And your football team sucks!_ "

He gave her a perplexed glance, looked back and forth between Pax and Kally, then glared at Pax. "What happened?" he slowly asked. "This perv upset you?"

Kally frowned.

Pax figured now was a fantastic time to tell the truth. "My pop is ascending tomorrow morning. No time to get a signature from Leo. I already wrote him a note." Just not the whole truth. That would come later. He really hoped no one remembered he was illiterate, since his note was a metaphorical one in the form of coins.

" _Ascending_?" Euna repeated. She set her to-go box down. Pax could envision her movie trailer now: _When Euna sets food aside: Stuff. Gets. SERIOUS._

Kally nodded. She joined Calex in his glare at Pax. "When we get to Chiron, Pax will explain _everything_ —" He gave her his best charming grin of _I'm a sleazebag and I've accepted that as a friendly term_. "—but the sooner we get there, the better. Do you think we have enough time to drive back and get Percy or Annabeth out here? Or, uh, should we Iris Message?" Kally seemed to realize she was being a proper domineering heroine and tapered off to return to sidekick status.

At hearing the plan, Pax wanted to hug Kally. If it was mandated by Camp Half-Blood, they could trap Axel at Camp Half-Blood to prevent him from interfering and force him to play games, like volleyball and sneak-past-Argus. No one had beaten that game yet, but he was going to prove to the Stoll brothers that it could be done.

"We're not going?" Euna asked. She sounded incredibly relieved.

Calex looked surprised. "Won't your bother be—where's Axel?"

Again, Calex always sounded so suspicious of Pax. Although the reaction proved some intelligence on Calex's part, Pax had to feign an indignant huff—an excellent mimic of Joey's—to pretend Calex was still ridiculous.

"Unconscious," Pax assured. Knowing that should be enough explanation, he cheerfully stepped towards the van.

He could still hear the others as Kally and Calex walked over to Merry's sleeping bag. "Just let me know if this dodgy prick bothers you and he'll be in love with a Reese's Stick right quick." The Son of Eros tapped the pencil pouch sticking out of his jean's pocket.

"I'd never be able to eat it!" Pax cried, terrified of the thought.

From the grin Calex gave him, that was the full intention.

"You monster," Pax grumbled.

Kally blushed and broke eye contact with Calex. "Thank you Calex, but I've been able to take care of myself."

Judging from the dull pain in his stomach from where Kally's elbow had a romantic rendezvous with his gut, he had to agree. From both times Pax had upset her to violence… had it really been _two_ times? Should Pax have an intervention with Kally about her friendship choices? He never would, as he'd have to recommend Kally to stay away from him, but the sentiment was there.

He expected her to be glaring at him warily, but she was staring at the van. He winced. Ajax Pax wasn't the Pax she was afraid of.

"That offer never expires," Calex assured her. He knelt down beside Merry, who was curled up on her side. "Will she go mental if I wake her?" He glanced to where Euna had woken up Joey. Joey didn't seem nearly as _pow!_ and _bam!_ as her sister. Pax imagined that Joey only got like that when she realized they didn't have any showers or mirrors.

Kally shook her head and covered up a laugh with her hand. It was good to see her smile, especially at the potential misery of Calex. "No, she just complains a lot in the morning."

"Mmm, sweetie Kal, you don't know this pain," Merry whined from her sleeping bag. She stretched, rolled over, and stretched on the other side, reminding Pax of a slow motion weasel. "Give me five minutes of stretching and seven Tylenol. Then I'll be ready to face the pain in my back. And that massage that Calex owes me for dragging him away from that model mania." She peered up at him slyly from her lazy sprawl.

"How about I carry you to the van?" Calex offered instead.

"Oh honey, you won't—" Merry yelped when Calex picked her up, bridal style. As though she feared he'd get a bad case of bodacious butterfingers, Merry clung to him. When he didn't drop her, but continued towards the van with little more than a quick neck crack, she said, "You can carry _me_? But I weigh like, three Paxes!"

"Hey!" Pax resented that. "I am a tiny ball of muscle!"

Merry ignored him. Her voice carried over Calex's shoulder as they went to join the Song sisters in the van. "Calex, we should be asexual life partners. You're a useful sweet teddy."

From inside, Pax could hear Joey say, "Asexual? Wouldn't your dad have to disown you for that?"

As their Scooby Team assembled, Pax bowed slightly to Kally. "Cyclopes," he said.

She looked at the ground and walked to the passenger door.

Pax puffed up his cheeks, popped them, and walked to the driver's side. For Christmas, he'd have to buy Kally a coupon book full of _Free Punch Pax Day_ and _Fill in the Blank for What Stupid Thing You Want Pax to Say to _ Hero that Can Kick His Sorry Butt._

* * *

Pax decided—if they got pulled over for speeding, he was going to hand Calex over as a sacrifice to the American judicial system.

Axel was still passed out in the back with the Phobetor sleeping bag carefully tucked over his head. His Mist mask always fell away when he slept, so he and Pax had a careful system of assuring he was properly cocooned. [footnote 1] Calex freaked out as soon as he went _near_ Axel. Pax wanted to assure that yes—Axel would emerge a beautiful butterfly, but he suspected that wasn't Calex's problem.

"What's in the towel?" Calex demanded. "That's it, isn't it? One of the things screaming malice back here?"

The towel containing Backbiter was tucked tightly beside the fluffy sleeping bundle of Axel, completely unseen to the average eye.

"Calex, you suck," Pax grumbled as he sat in the driver's seat. He was frustrated to find the seatbelt still broken from the dart-jamming incident earlier. "First you understand Axel and I when we're trying to have a familial conversation, then you can tell Kally and I had a spat, and now you get feelings off our evil sword. You don't have X-ray vision too, do you? Because I'll be quite disappointed if you ruin the surprise of which boxers I wear on special occasions."

They had a brief argument over what to do with the sword, not once mentioning the importance of his boxers. At first, Pax was disgusted to agree with Calex about leaving it behind, but Kally pointed out that Chiron would know how to get rid of the blade properly. Joey and Euna were confused, though Euna busied herself assuring everyone was settled on the couches so they could drive. Merry remained quiet, listening, and didn't interject until they decided to bring the sword to Camp Half-Blood.

"So, Pax," she said as he pulled out of the parking lot. "I assume you're going to explain why all of us adults needed a nap time at one of my parties when we talk to Chiron? No one _ever_ yawns at one of my parties." Her brown eyes flashed.

Maybe they should plan to have a dunking booth. Everyone would get a turn for each thing he'd screwed up so… he'd probably be better off with having Percy drown him. "Yep!" Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. "Come one! Come all! The Pax secrets divulged! Except my night cream routine. Joey might steal that."

He glanced in the mirror at her. Joey rolled her eyes at him, butshe was too deep into a to-go box for a real response.

Pax entered the coordinates off his ice cream voucher into the GPS, but didn't engage Luke's system. He didn't want the donkey to tug him. Pax wanted to tear down the highway on his own to get his mind off the conversation he'd have when Axel woke up. _"Axel, this is an intervention. We took your sword away and gave you an ice pop."_

Only slightly better than the convo with Chiron. Pax wanted to make sure Kally didn't have any secrets that needed keeping. But… would Chiron accept the argument that they weren't going to do any more evil seeming things and that it must be the start of their redemption arc?

Pax corralled the conversation towards Joey's cheerful Winter Break plans: Greek Hell. That's not what it actually was, but Pax liked to make it sound as horrible as possible to get everyone's mind on a safer topic.

Ideas were pumping through the back about Joey's quest from Hera, like how to get to Hades and how to get help from Persephone. Pax tried to contribute. He suggested they tell the Ares Cabin that the Athena Cabin said they could dig a bigger hole using their brains than their brawn, and vice versa for the other cabin, and then sit back and wait.

Kally stayed quiet. She would stare out the window at the shadows of trees and the distant, polluted glow of the town of Berkeley Hills. Then she'd jump and glance back to where Axel and the sword laid dormant. Axel never moved; he only ever slept like this when he had two nighters or when Pax darted him. Pax wanted to tease, _"naww, look at him and his widdle sword_." He wanted to say a lot of things, to ramble until Kally forgot what happened and felt better, but he was getting this strange inkling that maayyyybe that wasn't the best way to solve this.

They were leaving the park's forest when the sign for _Moma's Sweets_ caught his headlights. Pax couldn't actually read the writing, but he recognized the double scoop logo from the vouchers. Pax pulled off the side of the road into the far side of the parking lot, away from the other occupants and closer to the trees—in case Leo Valdez magically got his memory back, woke up, and was searching their van out on the road.

There was a small, single room shop just off what Kally had called out as _Grizzly Peak Boulevard_ , which—Pax was surprised—still had its lights on. The shop was painted red, with yellow shutters, very hipster friendly. Pax knew they were near a college town and wondered if he was about to run into exactly the kind of child-adults that Michael Kahale was worried would test out fireworks during flame season.

"We're stopping for ice cream?" Joey asked skeptically from the back. "Isn't your dad like, ascending tomorrow? What happened to hurrying to Chiron?"

"Ice cream is clearly more important," Pax said. He put the emergency brake down when he parked, as if Luke couldn't tear right through that. The driver's seat belt was in ribbons from Axel cutting at it—totally worth pranking Leo—but they'd need to get that fixed. Although Pax tended to enjoy a good bout with danger, one with the windshield was something he'd rather save for a few hundred years.

"Besides," he continued as he hopped out of the van. "I've always wanted to know if I could balance or juggle seven sundaes on my own. I'll be back."

Before anyone could offer to come with, he jammed his hands into his pockets and stalked towards the shop. In reality, he didn't know what kind of exchange the vouchers demanded, and he was sure he was going to end up exhausting his mortal money supply on guilt desserts for the group. And maybe he could ask the cashier how you apologized to your friends for drugging all of them and lying for months. Pleasant evening chatter.

There were only two other cars on the other side of the parking lot: a white ice cream truck and a pickup truck that looked like an extra from _Mad Max_. Pax found it strange that not many people would want ice cream at midnight in November, but he figured others didn't have as good of taste.

Pax was fumbling with the vouchers while he shoved the door opened and took a step inside. He almost ran into a guest. He was about to bow grandly and apologize to the sir or lady or other when he heard the familiar click of someone cocking the hammer on a revolver.

"Hello Ajax," a male voice cooed.

If Pax had ingested a pound of cockroaches and they all made a dash up his esophagus at the same time, he imagined this was about how it would feel. He was going to need a lot more than some sundaes to make up for this mistake. Though he couldn't figure out what before something metal cracked across his jaw, knocking him backwards.

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! :D I just finished writing the book today (eeeeee!) and am on the editing stages now. Should be about 33 chapters long!

* * *

Unnecessary Footnote: So, I definitely cocoon when I sleep. (Mel will verify this and has conducted several studies on the process.) Is this normal? Do you guys do this? (Also, Mel—upon reading this footnote—denied that she conducted studies. She said she happened to watch my sleeping process because we roomed together for a bit XD)


	28. Axel: Family Reunion Part II

Twenty-Eight: Axel

Family Reunion Part II

 _Axel felt like he was suffocating. If he could get the helmet off—if he could only gain control—_

Axel jerked awake at the sound of a gunshot—no—not a gunshot. The slam of a car door. He clawed to get the helmet off. As his fingers rose to rip at his head, he found the swishy material of a sleeping bag instead of imperial gold.

Laughter died around him. Someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright, mate?"

British? No one who worked for Santiago nor anyone in Luke's recruits had been British.

 _Calex_. His brain crawled to catch up.

Axel rubbed his Mist Mask onto his face, thankful Pax had covered him up.

 _Ajax_.

"Where's my brother?" Axel tore the sleeping bag away from his head. Joey and Euna sat on one bench beside him, Merry on the other. Calex knelt at his side. Everyone looked worried. He found Hunnie unceremoniously plopped in his lap and a colorful beach towel beside him.

Axel winced at the sight. He should have been more worried about Backbiter, but—after his nightmares—he couldn't care about anything until he knew Pax was safe.

"He just left to get us ice cream," Euna said.

"And maybe get you a chill pill," Merry added. She cocked her jaw to the side while examining him. "Are you okay?"

He wasn't. Axel searched the front seat, knowing Pax wouldn't be there but hoping he'd see him. Instead, he saw Kally. She was half out of her seat, Argonaut statue in hand and ready for a short toss at him if need be. Her green eyes were wide. That sun colored hair was a tangled mess in her sloppy ponytail.

Axel couldn't keep eye contact with her, not when he could so clearly remember the whisper of the Leonis Caput, _**Crack her chest open and eat her heart. She's a liability and only fools deal in such chance.**_ That made the average conversation feel a little awkward.

"Wait—ice cream?" Axel asked. Hadn't they been in the woods?

Calex nodded and gestured through the front windshield. "He said something 'bout free vouchers and took off into the shop."

Axel twisted to look out the window. There was a dilapidated shed outside, with cracked wooden boards, peeling paint, and a door barely on its hinges. Beside the shop was the rusting corpse of a pickup truck. To the side of that was the pristine red logo of a _Pax's Pharmaceutical_ van.

Light poured eerily out the crooked shutters and through the doorway as Pax opened the door. There was a silhouette of another person.

"That's no ice cream shop!" Axel snarled. [footnote 1] "Everyone gear up! _Now!_ "

Calex went to argue, but his jaw dropped. Whatever Mist illusion had convinced them it was a place for frozen sweets evaporated at Axel's shout.

Kally jammed her door open, Argonaut statue already in hand. Calex tugged out his pencil case, piecing together his golden bow. Euna snagged two swords off the wall and tossed one to Joey. Merry grabbed her jacket.

Axel snatched the beach towel from the floor.

 _ **Do you want me to fight to save the snake or you?**_ the Leonis Caput teased.

Axel wanted to scream that he could control the Leonis Caput. That _he_ had to be fully present to help his brother. Although he didn't set Backbiter down, he clasped his steel machete off the floor with his other hand.

Calex and Euna burst through the back of the van, Joey and Merry close after.

As Axel's feet made contact with the gravel, Pax screamed in pain.

Pax stumbled out of the shed, clutching his face.

Someone walked out after him, aiming a handgun the size of Hercules's calf at Pax's head: a _Taurus Judge_ revolver. Even with Pax's dominantly godly nature, that thing could blast a whole straight through his skull. The gun wielder was a young man. If Axel was eighteen, that must have made him twenty-one. He was full blood Native American, with caramel skin and piercing black eyes. His hair was long and kept back in a sloppy bun atop his head. The stray locks that fell from the bun were braided with beads, leather, and painted feathers.

He wore a burgundy button down shirt, pinched by black leather straps along each shoulder—a double gun holster with attached compartments for more ammo.

"Hi Kouta," Pax slurred through his hands.

Their oldest brother sneered.

Kouta's gaze slipped past Pax, to Axel. That sadistic smile widened as Kouta shouted something that terrified Axel. It showed that Kouta was far better planned than Axel's little rescue team.

"NOW!" Kouta said.

Axel had hoped Kally would have enough time to get a clean shot at Kouta or that Calex could fire his bow, but they had no time to react.

A few paces ahead of Axel, both Merry and Calex went rigid. Calex took a staggered step forward. Then they collapsed. Colorful darts stuck out of their backs.

Axel whirled. A teenage, Asian boy with flowing black hair, a burgundy button down, and suspenders covered in darts uncrouched from a cluster of bushes beside the parking lot. Hiro grinned at Axel and gave him a cheerful salute. _Hello_ , in ASL. Hiro then pointed behind Axel.

As he did, the bushes that had been hiding Hiro grabbed him. Axel assumed that must have been courtesy of the Song sisters and made a mental note to hug them later.

Hiro shrieked and fumbled to withdraw his talismanic paper for a protection spell.

Before Axel could whirl to see what Hiro had pointed at, or before whichever Song sister could fully restrain Hiro, someone roared the word, _"TAS!_ "

Axel didn't see the red Egyptian hieroglyph in the sky, but he didn't need to to know what was coming. Red streaks of cloth shot and past over their heads to envelope Joey. She shrieked as they spun around her legs like the wrappings of a mummy. She managed one attempted slice before they pinned her arms to her side. Her sword plopped uselessly to the ground.

Euna raced to her side and grabbed the cloth to rip it off. As her hands made contact, a secondary strip of cloth split from the first, snaking up Euna's arm. She frantically slashed at it with her sword. Vines shot up from the ground to wrestle the cloth off, but the material seared through the plants while it wrapped up the Song sisters.

On first scan, Axel couldn't see Lapis. But then her blue mohawk caught the moonlight. She stood atop the shed, one arm in a sling. Although she must have just cast the binding spell, she had already summoned her crossbow from the seeming nothingness of the Duat. With expert ease, she cocked the weapon by stepping on the bow's limbs and pulled the string back with her functional hand. Once done, she took aim.

Axel watched as the red dot of her crossbow's sight flicked onto Kally's forehead. Kally shifted her weight to wind up the Argonaut statue.

"Stop!" Axel cried, knowing Lapis could get the shot off before Kally could throw.

Kally hesitated and looked at Axel.

Axel shook his head.

She lowered the statue, her lower lip trembling.

They were, at least temporarily, in what Axel would have to consider a bad situation. The Song sisters squirmed in mummy wrappings. Calex and Merry were unconscious. Pax cowered away from Kouta.

Axel remembered when he and Pax had been holed up with Alabaster in his laboratory by a Roman platoon. They'd been scared there was no way out alive without capture… which really meant there was no way out alive. That's when Pax and Alabaster had gotten really creative.

But, here, with Kouta around, Axel knew Pax couldn't do anything but shut down. Pax might have become more powerful than Kouta by the time he was ten, and Axel might have become taller and broader than Kouta by the time he was sixteen, but Pax would always think of Kouta as the biggest and scariest of their siblings.

Hiro stood up and dusted himself off. Axel was shocked that the Song sisters let him go, until he saw how Lapis's bindings crept up along their mouths and noses, so they couldn't breathe.

He clutched the beach towel, knowing there was no way _he_ could take all three of his siblings without casualties.

Kouta's grin was so conceited, Axel thought about punching him in the face anyway. "Go ahead," Kouta cooed. "Go for your sword. How many of your friends can I shoot before you get to me?" Without lowering the gun aimed at Pax and without looking, he withdrew the second, smaller revolver, a _Taurus_ 9MM, from his shoulder harness. Keeping his eyes on Axel, he rapidly aimed the gun perfectly from Merry, to Calex, to Euna, to Kally. With each new position, he calmly mimicked the sound, "Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. At least four. Your choice." He shrugged, keeping the guns steady on Pax and Kally. "Plus, I've shot Pax in the leg once for fun. I'd love for an excuse to do it again."

"I vote you not shoot me in the leg again," Pax whined through his hands. "I don't look nearly as adorable while limping."

In the past, Axel might have been willing to take that risk. He would have thought his friends might survive and that keeping to his mission outweighed their lives. But he couldn't do it. The end didn't justify the means here, and he wasn't willing to sacrifice the others.

 _ **You've grown weak**_ , the Leonis Caput whispered.

Axel dropped the towel and machete.

Kouta narrowed his gaze at Axel, well aware he had other weapons on him. There was a pause.

Axel withdrew three more knives and the daggers strapped onto his back and dropped them onto the ground. They landed with muffled _thunks_.

By the Titans, he hated Kouta.

"I know you've got more," Kouta stated. "As such, I've made something special for you. Hiro?"

Hiro made some rude gestures at Kouta.

Kouta sighed. "I don't want to hear it right now—yes—okay." Kouta rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll announce it." Kouta cleared his throat and put on his circus announcer voice. "Get our estranged brother his _Awesome Cloak of Awesome Restraint and Amazingness._ There." He glared at Hiro. "Did I say it right?"

Hiro nodded his head cheerfully. He pulled something from behind the bush: a white, long sleeve garment with straps and bindings. Axel's breath caught in his throat. _A straightjacket?_

Kally balked, her eyes darting from the jacket to Axel. He could tell she was waiting for an attack signal. He felt terrible that he couldn't issue it any time soon.

"It's specially crafted for you," Kouta assured. As Kouta talked about the straightjacket, Hiro held it up against him, waving a hand at the fabric like the co-star on a game show. "Some mesh lining to keep those nasty claws of yours in check. If you misbehave, we have a muzzle for you too."

This wouldn't be the first time Axel had been put in a muzzle. After Santiago killed Nilley and Frasco and dragged everyone back to the house, Santiago wrestled one onto him until Axel "learned some manners." No one else would fight. Axel remembered hoping his older brother would do something, but Kouta groveled at Santiago's feet like a pathetic mess. That's what he'd been since then: Santiago's spineless lapdog.

The straightjacket was new. The thought made Axel cringe. His instincts told him to run for the woods when he examined the white canvas material. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to move; Axel had to concentrate to remain still.

Near his feet, he could see the red cocoons of Joey and Euna squirm frantically. Each time grass tried to grow in between the binding, the plant would burst into flames. The Song sisters looked a little blue in the face from the way the cloth smothered them.

"This is unnecessary," he lied.

"Like Xibalba it is," Kouta said.

"For Set's sake, Axel, you're like an untrained pitbull. Put the stupid thing on!" Lapis shouted from the roof. Her voice echoed into the night and Axel hoped some Romans would show up and yell at them for disturbing the peace. "Look Hiro even named the fracker something fancy to make Ajax happier."

Hiro folded his arms in his best _I'm not talking to you_ gesture. He stared at Pax, making it clear he wasn't going to sign a word until Pax acknowledged his efforts.

Pax shrugged meekly. He let go of his face and Axel could see where Kouta must have pistol whipped him. His cheek, chin, and jaw were bruised. He glanced at Kally, then back to Hiro. Kally's expression, though terrified, also screamed an exacerbated, _your whole_ family _is like this?!_

Shakily, Pax smiled. "It's a good name, but it would have been better if you'd stitched it into the jacket." Axel could tell, from the way his yellow and black eyes darted to each family member, that Pax was estimating the best way to talk out of this situation. Axel, meanwhile, was estimating the best way to break Kouta's neck without anyone else dying.

He was out of options. Kouta started to tap gently against the trigger with impatience.

Axel snatched the straightjacket from Hiro. He scowled at Kouta while slipping his arms through the sleeves. The way the material brushed against his chest made it feel like he was putting a coat on backwards. When he shuffled his fingers, he could feel his nails catch against a metallic mesh. There would be no clawing out of this. Axel clenched his jaw and hugged himself, the way he assumed his arms were supposed to be pinned. Panic set in as Hiro latched the straps. Even without applying resistance, he could feel his mobility decrease with each of Hiro's tugs.

Hiro whistled and hopped happily while he worked. Although Kouta looked delighted at Axel's discomfort, Axel had a sneaking suspicion Hiro had come up with the idea.

Once Axel was immobilized, he could see the red slips of cloth peel from Euna and Joey's mouths. Both gasped and coughed.

In the distance, Lapis tried to hop off the roof. As her feet made contact with the ground, roots sprang out and latched around her legs. Lapis yelped, "Stupid tree romping hippies—"

The cloth bindings around Joey and Euna snaked back around their mouths and squeezed.

"Joey! Euna! Stand down," Axel shouted.

They were lucky Kouta hadn't shot one of them, though Kouta seemed content to watch Axel command his troops. Axel knew now was not the time for an escape attempt.

The roots relaxed and Lapis stumbled towards them. Euna's eyes blazed with a hatred that he didn't expected in her. Although Joey should have been preserving her oxygen supplies, Axel could have sworn he heard her huff. Hesitantly, the bindings around their noses relaxed. There were red rub marks under their eyes from how tightly Lapis had squeezed them.

As Lapis came closer, she ignored the Song sister and their attempted grapple. Instead, she adjusted her shoulder sling and snarled at Hiro, "You sorry, grime-licking excuse for a nerf herder!" She pointed at the darts on his suspenders. He slipped his thumbs through the straps and pulled them out, like an agricultural advocate. "You couldn't just shoot the two vine girls and make my life easier?" Lapis demanded.

Hiro grinned and impishly glanced off to the side like _I don't know what you're talking about_. He released his suspenders and signed towards her.

"Family inclusion my butt!" Lapis cried. "You lazy—"

Kouta sighed in a way that felt WAY too familiar to Axel. "Guys, do you have to do this now?" He gestured vaguely with his gun, to where Kally was scared silent and the Song sisters were tied up on the ground.

Lapis glared at him. "Oh, it is _just_ Axel and Ajax. You don't need to act all menacing. Holy Hun-Batz, I'm pretty sure Ajax would start crying if you stepped on his foot."

"I would not!" Pax shouted indignantly.

Hiro grinned wickedly and swiped the paper from _Mama's Sweet_ out of Pax's pocket.

"My vouchers!" Pax cried. His eyes teared up and Axel sighed. This is why Lapis always picked on him. "Was… was the free ice cream a lie?" he whispered.

Axel would have to ask Pax later where he got those… but Axel had a pretty good guess of who knew to tempt Pax with ice cream fliers, assuming that's why Pax stopped here. The real question was why Pax was dumb enough to believe her.

"Oh, they're real. Dad promised an ice cream social. He said it would be a good way to meet your friends," Kouta said with a grin.

Pax's eyes widened. He forced a laugh. "I guess if you _wanted_ to have a way more difficult time, you could bring all of us. That would mean driving two cars, dealing with how weird Calex smells—"

"Ajax, I'm not letting your friends go." Kouta shrugged. "They're too good a leverage and Dad will want them."

"Besides…" Lapis walked up to Calex and Merry. She knelt beside them and turned Calex's head to see his face, then picked up Merry's head by her hair. Neither so much as mumbled. "I'm sure we could sell either of these for a good sum on the Monster Market or Craig's list."

Rage boiled in Axel's stomach, combing nicely with his panic. He wanted to snarl at Lapis not to touch any of them, but he knew it would only encourage her. He clenched his jaw.

Pax and Kally had both gone pale. She turned the statue behind her back and Axel could tell she would throw it if Lapis hurt Merry. Subconsciously, Pax took a step closer to Kally. Axel hoped Kouta didn't notice or realize why.

Luckily, Kouta's focus was on the others. "How are we going to break them up?" he asked, nodding his chin towards the vans. As he did so, his braids, beads, and feathers fluttered against his leather gun holster.

Hiro giggled as he scampered to Lapis's side. He signed rapidly, and Axel only caught one motion: Hiro held one hand out horizontally and slashed the other vertically beside it. ASL for _to slice_.

"That's foul," Lapis chuckled. "I don't think Dad will want to need an instructional guide to put them back together Dartface." She released Merry back to the dirt.

Kouta pointed at Merry and Calex. "Mel and I can take those two—"

"You butt-kissing coward," Lapis snarled and stood up. She stormed up to Kouta to get directly in his face. He flinched back. Hiro hopped up and rushed beside her, his long hair weaving after him. The shorter boy mimicked the way Lapis jabbed a hand in Kouta's face until Lapis—without looking—paused to shove Hiro, by the forehead, away.

Kally subtly brought her Argonaut statue level with her hip. She was getting ready to throw. Axel rapidly shook his head at her. Kouta would be able to get at least one shot off before she threw her discus, and that was all he'd need.

"You're not going to get the unconscious ones," Lapis stated. "No! You get the little tree hugging sisters. Mel!"

Kouta didn't have time to argue before someone opened the back of the _Pax Pharmaceutical_ van. Axel could dimly see the figure of a tall man with a staff therein. He knew Mel, one of Santiago's workers and the magician that had been training Lapis since her mother died. Although Axel would kill Mel in a heartbeat since he was one of Santiago's, Axel remembered him being a pretty good guy. He'd at least make sure nothing happened to Merry or Calex until they got back to Santiago's warehouse.

Axel's stomach must have learned how to teleport with how it dropped to the floor. The reality of the situation hit like a tackle from Mrs. O'Leary. This wasn't how Axel wanted to go back. He had Backbiter and the Golden Net to trap Santiago and kill him, but now he was trapped in a loony suit and his siblings would have their friends as hostages. Pax _wasn't_ supposed to be here. Axel had promised himself to _never_ let Santiago near Pax again.

The claustrophobia from the straightjacket threatened to strangle him. _**We need out**_ , the Leonis Caput snarled. Axel tried to count slowly in his head and control his breathing. _If you can't control yourself, you can't control a battlefield,_ he reminded himself.

While Axel struggled to strategize, Kouta scowled. "Fine," he hissed at Lapis. "Ajax, you help the ginger take these two—" Kouta unpointed the gun from Pax to vaguely gesture at Merry and Calex. "—into your van. Then we're off to see our father."

Hiro hummed out, _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ , and jumped on Pax.

Pax barely had time to brace for impact. In seconds, Hiro had scaled Pax's back and sat on his shoulders, their acrobatic training the only thing that prevented them from toppling over. "Ay!" Pax called and clutched Hiro's shins so he wouldn't drop him. "Hiro, I think you might be like six years too old for this and four jaguars too heavy!" Despite himself, Pax smiled up at their little brother.

In the pharmaceutical van, Mel set his staff down and hopped out. He wore the same burgundy dress shirt as the others, though Axel knew that and his dress pants would be linen. Lapis said it was better for casting magic. She never let that stop her from wearing leather though.

Kouta went to pick up Joey and Mel; Euna. The Song sisters scowled menacingly at them.

Axel hated the idea of splitting up. Santiago would hold Joey and Euna indefinitely if he thought it would prevent any foul play. However, Joey and Euna were resourceful. They were probably more dangerous to Kouta than he was to them.

Hiro straightened his back and raised his chin as best he could, taking hold of Pax's fohawk like the reigns of a stead. His own dark locks fluttered in the wind as he stared seriously off into the sky.

Although Axel was in a straightjacket, out of ideas, and unarmed, a pang of nostalgia clenched his stomach. He and Kouta used to carry the little ones on their shoulders all the time, usually so they could mock battle each other to see who the strongest warrior was. Then the other one would fake a dramatic death and Frasco would run, pick up the winner, and race them around the circus trailers, announcing the victory.

It was stupid to reflect on. They'd never have that again. Though obviously Hiro and Pax would try.

Lapis walked up to them and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked. "Hiro, this isn't helping to put the others in the van."

Hiro mock-spurred Pax by kicking him in the chest and flicking his hair in a _giddy up!_ motion.

Pax whinnied at her, tossing his hair back. Hiro and he giggled until Lapis snagged Pax by the ear. " _Ay! Ay! Ay!_ Axel! Get her off!" he whined.

Kally looked bewildered, like she wasn't sure if this was some warped internet social experiment. "Are we still being abducted?" she asked Axel quietly.

Axel could only sigh. This was exactly the kind of abduction he'd expect from his siblings.

"Yes!" Lapis snapped. At the anger in her voice, Hiro scampered off Pax's back, earning a few more, " _Ay!"_ s.

As much fun as Hiro and Pax were having, Axel knew Kouta would get impatient once he had the Song sisters settled. He hated himself for giving the order, but he nodded his head towards the van. "Kally, it might be best to get Merry in as well as you can."

"Right—right!" Pax said and took a side shuffle away from Lapis and Hiro. "You're bad guys."

Hiro switched to JSL, something Axel struggled to read. But he knew what Hiro would say. He only used JSL to quote his mother, Ms. Iwakura. Axel was pretty sure Hiro didn't know any other JSL other than what Ms. Iwakura said. Even as Hiro signed it, Axel could imagine her milky cheeks contouring as she formed the words, " _Rui wa tomo o yobu." [footnote2]_ The equivalent of the American, _birds of a feather flock together._

She used to use it to insult Santiago and his followers.

Axel scowled. He and Pax were _not_ like them.

Hiro's comment drained the playfulness out of Pax. He helped Hiro drag Calex to the van. Axel had to shout at them once so Pax didn't "accidentally" give Calex a concussion on the way in. With regretful hesitation, Pax also picked up the beach towel and tucked Backbiter under one arm.

Maybe, just maybe they'd be able to use this family reunion to their advantage.

Axel walked alongside Kally as she dragged Merry over. He was furious he couldn't help—not that Kally couldn't do it on her own but he felt… utterly useless. _And trapped._

Kally looked close to sobbing. Her shoulders quivered and her breath was short. She spent the last hour being threatened by Axel, tricked by Pax, and was now being kidnapped by their psychotic family. Axel and Pax would really have to take Kally out to dinner or _Tahiti_ if they lived through this.

After they put Calex in the back, Hiro scampered into the driver's seat and inspected Luke's controls. Axel was shocked Hiro hadn't tried climbing atop Luke to ride him, but he couldn't imagine what his siblings thought Luke was.

Kally wrapped Merry and Calex back up in sleeping bags and knelt beside Merry to touch her hair. Axel hoped they wouldn't have any adverse side effects from being unconscious so long. He also hoped they'd both managed to use the bathroom while they were still conscious. Not that it mattered now, but he'd gotten this van cleaned before they started this line of quests.

Lapis leaned over the driver's seat from the back to check the longitude and latitude displayed on Luke's control board. "What are you guys going to in the East coast? Is that where you've been hiding?"

"No!" Pax protested. He took a seat on the bench and motioned for Kally to join him. Hesitantly, she sat beside Pax.

The silver lining of being kidnapped: Kally would forget to be as mad at Pax.

Pax waved a hand at Lapis like she'd asked about an off-brand pencil sharpener. "It's just some camp ground with a climbing wall, horseback riding, sing-alongs, expressing your feelings, hugging puppies, and braiding each other's hair. You should go Lapis. You'd fit right in."

Lapis didn't buy it. Before she could stop the reflex—and last time Axel saw her, she _had_ been trying to stop—she puffed up her cheeks and popped them. "You know… your mom never would tell Dad the coordinates to Camp Half-Blood. Can you imagine how happy he'd be to have an unending supply of demigod hearts? Sounds like it would be time for an old school _xochiyaoyotl_."

 _A Flower War_ , Axel translated. A pretty sounding excuse to massacre thousands to the god _Huitzilopochtli_. [footnote 3]

If Santiago did it properly—if he did it the way Axel had at Camp Othrys—then the victims would be given a fighting chance. Granted, an unfair one with improper weapons, but still a chance.

But Santiago never had liked sticking to traditions.

Axel thought about Jason Grace chained to their oak dining room table, drugged to paralysis but still conscious. The image made him nauseous and Axel was surprised to find he might have grown fond of the former praetor in his day at Camp Half-Blood. If nothing else, Jason Grace deserved the honorable death of a warrior.

Pax folded his arms calmly and pouted. "You're going to be sorely disappointed when you rage warfare against some puppy huggers."

To be fair, from what Axel heard, Percy did hug Mrs. O'Leary a lot. Axel would have to applaud Pax later for keeping his cool so well.

"Shut up Ajax," Lapis mumbled. "Now tell me how this control panel works."

"You just told me to shut—"

Lapis turned to swipe at Pax's ear. Pax yelped and went to hide behind Kally. When she went rigid and he realized that she couldn't tell their family's play from their family's threatening, he popped right back up beside her.

As Pax explained, in the most confusing manner possible, how to direct Luke on both auto-pilot—where the coordinates did all the work—or on manual mode—where you had to turn the wheel for look and shift donkey gears—Axel caught Kally's eye.

He wanted to assure her that he'd get them out of this or at least that he had a plan. A tiny whisper in the back of his head cooed that he should say, _I'm sorry_. That would only scare her. What he said to her earlier that night felt so much more correct: _**you should be scared**_.

Kally nodded to his straightjacket and mouthed, _Are you alright?_

Not even an hour ago he'd threatened to kill her. As much as that made Axel feel like an even worse friend, that also made him question Kally's priorities.

Axel grated his claws against the metallic mesh. Everything was so confined. If Aphrodite decided to show up, he wouldn't be able to do anything but insult her clothing choices. To prevent panic and accidentally enticing the goddess, Axel tried to focus on his breathing again. He nodded to Kally, wishing he could assure her in some way.

Kouta stepped into their van. Although Axel refused to flinch, Kally did.

When he couched to avoid clunking his head, the feathers, beads, and braids tumbled forward. The bigger revolver, _The Judge,_ was back in its shoulder holster, the less powerful one was pointed aimlessly at the floor. He surveyed the scene and Axel could tell what he was taking note of: how Lapis and Hiro left Axel and Kally completely unattended.

Instead of scolding Lapis, like Axel expected, Kouta crouched closer to Axel. His dark eyes narrowed. Axel bet Kouta was conflicted. If Kouta brought Axel back, that meant Kouta would be rewarded, but Axel would swear on the River Styx that Kouta had been getting a lot more attention from Santiago since Axel ran away and that would disappear.

Kouta fished around in his pocket and withdrew a golden cigarette package with the initials _B &H_ at the top. It was a British brand that Kouta and he used to sneak from one of the carnies. Kouta tapped out two rolls.

"How does it feel to fail two sets of troops Axel? First the army that was slaughtered at Mount Othrys, now this little ragtag team of kids?" Kouta slipped one cigarette into his mouth and placed the other between Axel's lips.

 _ **Destroy him**_ , snarled the Leonis Caput.

For once, they were in agreement. _Wait_ , he hissed to himself. He resisted the urge to tear off Kouta's fingers, instead pressing the cig's filter with his lips.

"Ah, look-" Pax said, "-the villain comes in to jeer at the heroes and—well—uh—antiheroes…" Pax fumbled while gesturing to himself and Axel. Hiro snickered from the front and clapped his hands. Lapis looked annoyed.

Pax crossed his fingers. "Maybe to grant them an attempted escape with his carelessness?" he added.

Kouta made a rude gesture towards Pax, one that Axel didn't need sign language to read. He then withdrew a lighter from his pocket. "You're not going to be Dad's favorite anymore, you know that right? You screwed up two too many times."

He flicked the lighter out, lit the tip of his cigarette, then held it under Axel's. Axel took a drag, feeling the fumes twist over his tongue and into his lungs. The taste was wonderful, especially to quell his anxiety. [footnote 4]

If he could get Kouta to lean a little closer…

Pax made a disgruntled sound in the background. Axel ignored it. He tried not to smoke around Pax, but this was an important opportunity.

Axel rolled the cigarette to the corner of his mouth and pinched it with his lips so he could speak with a slur. "I never wanted to be Dad's favorite," he growled. Being the favorite meant more beatings, more lashings, more expectations, more manipulation. It meant Santiago admired Axel's will and wanted to break it like the impulse to shatter Plexiglas. It meant that Santiago saw something in Axel that reminded Santiago of when he was younger. That fact disgusted Axel more than the smell of Aphrodite's perfume. And her perfume reeked.

Although sneering at Kouta wasn't hard, he made the expression as pompous as he could. "Maybe he always knew I was better than you, that I had something you lacked. Like a spine," Axel hissed.

Kouta froze. Those dark eyes blazed. As though trying to show his indifference, Kouta casually tapped his ashes onto Axel's face. Axel tried not to flinch. The flakes singe his cheeks. Without a word, Kouta leaned forward to blow his smoke directly into Axel's face.

Once Kouta was close enough, Axel lunged forward to tear out his throat.

Axel's fangs sank through cloth, but not Kouta's throat—Kouta must have twisted. Blood gushed into his mouth. Axel had bit through to skin.

Kouta tried to rip free. Axel didn't release him, instead jerking his jaw to the side to tear out some flesh.

The _pop_ of a gun shrieked and reverberated through the small confinement.

The world went white.

Kally screamed in the distance.

Pax and Lapis shouted.

Everything was muted, like he was underwater. For an instant, Axel thought about when his c _hiich_ would take him and his siblings to the river on hot Belizean days. They were really little then—Hiro was just a toddler. They'd play and splash around in the green tinted water with the Caribbean sun beating on their backs. Kouta and he would watch over the little ones and make sure they were okay, teasing them—half serious—about coral snakes, crocodiles, warries, jaguars, and ocelots.

Kouta and he would push each other around and plan pranks for the little ones and for the poor Catholic missionary who ran their primary school. They'd scheme how to steal or mess the other's green school uniform so the teacher, and then later _Chiich_ , would give the other a whipping. They'd discuss how to beat the snot out of other children for making fun of Hiro's eyes or how pale Pax was.

All fun and games.

In the present, Axel must have taken a step back. He didn't remember the motion, but he felt the bench press into the back of his knee.

The image of eleven-year-old Kouta's sly smile faded. Now, all he could see was a twenty-one-year-old slime bag clutching at the chunk missing from his shoulder. Kouta's jaw gaped with shock. He glanced down at Axel's torso, then back at Axel's face. Like a child coming up with excuses, he babbled, "You—you bit me—"

With the ringing from the gun, Kouta's voice still sounded far away.

Axel felt something wet and hot soaking into his shirt and straightjacket, both on his back and his front. He didn't look down; he didn't want to waste the energy.

He knew he needed to save it when the Leonis Caput roared, _**and we're not done with you yet.**_

* * *

Thanks for reading!:D

* * *

Footnotes:

1 I cry laughed every time I had to read over this line. I know the buildup is there, but no matter how dramatic anything is, I will never take Axel Pax screaming, "That's no ice cream shop!" seriously. All I can think is, "That's no moon!"

2 類は友を呼ぶ. Yea, I don't read or speak Japanese… but here's the Japanese! I hope!

3 Just noting that the Flower Wars are more an Aztec thing, but you'll see Santiago mixes elements of Aztec and Mayan

4 Don't smoke kids. There's a reason this stuff is addictive. Okay, I said my disclaimer. *glares* But don't do drugs. You'll make Pax sad, and then he'll get all blubbery and he won't be able to be a proper hero.


	29. Kal: An Evening Stroll to Our Doom

Twenty-Nine: Kalypso

An Evening Stroll to Our Doom

Kally heard the scream before she realized it was hers.

Had this been a movie, Axel would have flown back into the wall, blood would have splattered everywhere, and he'd have been dead in seconds. Pax would have dramatically shouted, "Nooooooo!" for an uncomfortable period of time for viewers.

Kally had never seen someone shot in real life.

The sound was deafening. She thought she might have actually heard Pax shout something long and dramatic, but couldn't tell.

Kouta dropped his gun in shock.[footnote 1]

Blood did splatter onto the van's wall, but less than what you'd get out of a squirt gun.

She was terrified Axel would collapse.

Instead, after a single step backwards, he roared in rage, though it came out like a deep, throaty cough.

His Mist Mask dissolved.

Axel's golden eyes gleamed. His mouth and fangs smeared red. He charged Kouta.

Kouta fumbled to draw his bigger revolver.

Instinct took over and Kally tossed her Argonaut statue. Although Kouta deserved it, she didn't want to see Axel maul his brother to death, and that bigger gun looked like it would blast Axel's head off. She didn't have space or time for a full wind up, but she didn't need it to go far. The statue hissed to a discus.

" _Hu-Ai!_ "

The van's warm yellow light went red as a hieroglyph appeared above Axel's head.

Within a fraction of a second, Kally's discus hit Kouta's hand. The revolver snapped out of his grip, flying out of the vehicle. From the look of pain on Kouta's face, she probably broke his wrist. Kouta stumbled out of the van and flat onto his butt.

Her discus ricocheted off his hand and clattered back into the van, barely missing Calex's legs.

Meanwhile, Lapis's hieroglyph slammed down on Axel.

He collapsed backwards onto the bench, his back smashing into the cushions. If Kally remembered properly, Pax had gotten those from a dumpster and her godly side screamed that wasn't a sanitary place for a gun wound.

Axel hissed in pain and struggled against some invisible force. He kicked and snarled, swearing in Mayan.

Then he released a frustrated hiss before going limp. His chest fluttered like the rhythm of a hummingbird's wings and Kally was scared he might have a panic attack or go into shock.

Hiro stared at them curiously in the rearview mirror.

Pax had pressed up against the van wall. He had a dart ready, but his hand was shaking so violently, Kally figured he'd have better luck playing Jenga on a moon bounce than hitting a target. He looked terrified. Kally could envision a much younger, smaller Pax freezing up the first time his older brothers fought. Or worse, he probably ran between the two of them, begging them to stop, and got seriously injured.

"Really you two? _Really_?!" Lapis shouted. She stepped over Calex and Merry's bodies to make it to the back door. She completely ignored Kally and the discus. Although Kally didn't understand why, she was thankful Lapis hadn't _Hu-Ai_ ed her to the floor.

Lapis pointed at Kouta. He was still flopped outside, clutching his shoulder, stunned. Blood gushed between his fingers, darkening the burgundy of his button down shirt. "You! Go get the tree huggers back to Dad. And clean yourself up!" Lapis said.

She leaned out and almost lost her balance. "Holy Hun-Batz—stupid gravity—"she cursed, caught the door handles, and slammed the door shut. [footnote 2] After popping her cheeks once, she whirled back towards them. "Hiro, drive. And you!" She stormed up to Axel.

The van jerked forward and she nearly lost her balance again. Hiro must have figured out the controls. This resulted in another bout of cursing and Hiro making a sign from the front. Kally was 90% sure it meant _buckle up_.

"Lapis," Axel hissed. His voice was rugged. "Let me sit up and get this straightjacket off of me."

From what Kally had seen of Lapis's abilities and from the way the boys respected her, Kally probably should have paid the girl more heed. But after the events of the night, she almost didn't care.

Kally and Pax ran to Axel's side. Pax swiped a med kit from a compartment underneath the other bench. Pax handed it to her with a look of terrified hope that made Kally shiver. For having never addressed much more than a Band-Aid without Will's help, she didn't like the idea of dressing a bullet wound.

But Kally let instinct take over. She'd heard of other demigods _knowing_ how to do things without ever learning them. She remembered one summer, when her parents let her go visit the Blythe winery and Merry showed off how she knew how to polka. Kally could guarantee there was no reason Merry should know how to polka, but—if it involved a party—Merry was an expert. Maybe all demigods had innate knowledge.

Axel's shoulder pooled with blood. The metallic reek was nauseating. Kally took out the scissors and tried to cut through the canvass of his straightjacket. After three frustrated snips of zero progress, Pax handed her one of his daggers.

Kally frowned. She did _not_ want Axel to look like he was the one who'd been mauled. Instead, she slipped her hands under his side and tried to sit him up. This didn't feel like proper medical procedure, but she needed that straightjacket off.

Axel grunted in pain.

Something invisible was pinning him to the bench.

Lapis had been silent. Kally presumed it was because she wanted to film their failure and post it to Kouta's social media blog as a gift. In a tone crossed between question and statement, Lapis asked, "You're their healer?"

Kally felt like the best answer was, _No, I am not the person responsible for whether Axel lives or dies_.

But she _was_ responsible right now.

"Yes," Kally said, trying to keep her voice firm. "And we need to take him to a hospital—"

"That floor-flopped jerk is fine," Lapis snapped. "Right?"

Kally had to wonder if a fraternal shooting was as common as a playful wrestling match amongst the Pax family.

Pax gripped Kally's forearm. His eyes were wide. "Yea, Axel's not scheduled for a vacation in the Elysian Fields for awhile, right?"

Axel groaned in irritation. "Kronos's sake. This is a flesh wound—now let me up."

Kally spent a moment longer staring at Axel than she should have. This was the first time she'd seen him as… _him_ in full light. His pupils were round, almost pinpoints under the van's light. There didn't seem to be any white to his eye, making the golden-brown hue more prominent. His jaw parted slightly to accommodate his panting, exposing those fangs. His canines were the length and width of a lip balm stick, tinted red from Kouta's blood. The incisors at the front were tiny by comparison.

After what she saw when Axel had touched Backbiter, none of that was surprising. But, she hadn't noticed his ears. There weren't any ears where a normal human's should have been. Instead it was smooth with black fur—when Kally narrowed her gaze, she could see that Axel's hair was faintly patterned. The sight was uncomfortable. Several inches above their absence, Kally could see that Axel _did_ have ears. They were fur-lined, much longer than a human's, like rounded triangles, and bent down in a way that expressed his pain and fear more than Axel's expressions ever did.

There were plenty of times that Kally thought she saw Axel twitch his head at her approach. That had been his ears every time? No wonder he was self-conscious about them. You could likely read all his emotions based off their twitch.

When Kally stared too long, Pax said, "Yes, Axel is a furry. But he's an injured furry that needs healing—"

"Ajax, when I can move, I'm going to make you wish your ear had been ripped out ages ago," Axel growled. Now that his Mist Mask was down, Kally could see how much more terrifying his angry face was with those bared fangs.

Pax was right though. She needed to focus.

Kally scowled up at Lapis.

The girl's dark eyes were narrowed with bitterness and resentment, fixated on the rapid fluttering of Axel's chest.

"Hey," Kally said firmly. Lapis glared at her. "If you let him sit up and let me get this thing off him, then he'll be fine. If you don't, and Kouta severed one of his arteries, then this floor-flopped jerk won't be around for you to yell at him."

Lapis muttered something about gingers not having a soul—like Kally hadn't heard that before. With a flick of Lapis's finger, Axel shot up.

Kally and Pax got to work unstrapping the jacket. Axel's gasps increased and he clenched his jaw when Kally and Pax pulled the sleeve off his right arm. Once they'd tossed the canvas to the side, Kally snatched up the scissors. She cut Axel's shirt in half, splitting the _Ares Checks his Closet for me at Night_ right up the middle.

Pax forced a laugh. "I made that for your sixteenth birthday. I guess… I guess I'll have to make you another for your nineteenth. One with an illustration of you punching Ares."

"Lay back down," she instructed once they'd peeled the shirt off. She hoped what she was about to do was the right thing. It would suck if she told Lapis she was their healer and then accidentally killed Axel.

Axel nodded his head and lay back on the bench. She wished she couldn't see how his ears cocked downward. It made her feel way worse for what she would have to do.

There wasn't nearly as much blood as she thought there would be, but what was there was smeared all over his right pec. The hole under his collarbone was about the width of her finger. She touched it and found herself babbling, "A near clean shot, under the clavicle, barely missing the subclavian artery, and chipping the spine of the scapula."

The exit wound would look worse.

"Spatulas have spines?" Pax asked nervously. "And one is in Axel's back?"

"No…" Kally exhaled shakily. _She_ shouldn't have known what any of that meant, but she scrambled to translate it. "The bullet missed the spot that would make him bleed faster and missed his collarbone, but it smashed the top of his shoulder blade."

"What does that mean?" Lapis asked, sounding tense. Nice to know she cared if Axel was going to live or die, even if she wouldn't take him to a hospital.

"Sit back up," Kally commanded. As Axel complied, she was already internally repeating, _Sorry—sorry—sorry—sorry_. Kally picked up her messenger bag and pressed the straps to Axel's lips. Without a question, he bit down. She gently pressed a hand to the exit and entry point. She should have stopped the blood flow long before now, but she couldn't make up for the past. His wounds needed pressure _now_. She'd have to plug the holes so he wouldn't bleed out.

 _It means this is going to hurt a lot. You know, like gun wounds probably do._ Kally said, "I'm sorry Axel."

While she started to sing, she pressed against the wound.

* * *

The van stopped sooner than Kally was ready. Although she couldn't fully heal the bullet wound, she could at least stabilize Axel. The bleeding had stopped. Axel was sweating and exhausted from having Kally's palm shoved against a broken bone. Most other people would scream through the whole ordeal. Instead, he'd snarled like a trapped animal. Kally had become keenly aware of his claws and prayed he wouldn't accidentally kill her in defense.

With the time she had, Kally could only clean out the wound, dress it, and put Axel into a sling. As long as no one bludgeoned his shoulder and reopened his wounds, he should be okay until they could get him to a proper doctor, Will, or Chiron.

The ride must have only taken ten minutes. It went too fast.

Once the van was parked, Hiro hopped in the back, danced over the unconscious bodies of Merry and Calex, and crawled past Pax to help Lapis.

Lapis opened the back door and scowled at Axel. During the whole healing process, she'd been quiet. Now, she pointed outside, snapping, "I wish I was the one who shot you. You deserve it for leaving Hiro and I with _Papá_ and Mr. I-wanna-be- _P_ _apá'_ _s_ -favorite-and-I'll-whine-until-I-am."

Kally wanted to point out that Kouta would do worse than whine if Axel's gunshot wound was any indicator, but she figured she'd already pushed her luck with Lapis that day.  
Axel stood up and stumbled. Pax rushed to his good side to help him keep upright. The smaller brother gave Kally a pathetic smile. "For when you write future ballads, I was the one who needed the support—not Axel," he clarified. That was assuming they'd survive for her to write ballads. Although he tried to keep his eyes on Kally, his gaze slipped past to the building outside.

From what Kally could see out the back door, they were in a parking lot with other white vans. She'd expected everything to be dark, wild, and sinister. The last part was accurate—definitely sinister. Other than that, the parking lot was well lit.

Hiro hadn't used Luke's mythological speed drive, so they must have still been in California. From the light pollution in the sky, she'd guess they were in a major city.

The sinister part was the building. She leaned out of the van to take it in full.

At first glance, it was a warehouse, colorfully painted with some sort of Mesoamerican depictions. Kally assumed bright colors=happy=fun. There was a weird stair-ramp embedded in the center of the wall, as though to accommodate random tourists wanting to stargaze. When she narrowed her gaze, she realized it was _not_ just a single-story warehouse. There was a tiered second floor, and a tiered third, continuing upward for at least… nine tiers? Each receded several feet in, allowing the stairs to climb steadily to the top. The stairs ended at a rectangular room with huge open doorways.

This was a temple.

"We were coming back for you," Axel whispered. He sounded as worn down as he looked. From the way his ears drooped further, he was hurt by Lapis's accusation about abandoning her and Hiro. After everything that had happened that night—and Kally was pretty sure it was just getting started—Kally couldn't really sympathize with Axel's little sister.

"Yea," Lapis snorted. "With a special sword—"

She picked the beach towel off the ground, making Kally and Pax flinch. Hiro traced his hands around the oblong shape of the beach towel, like a magician's assistant.

"—and the Golden Net." Lapis tried to swipe a glittering mesh from the scrapped weapons bin. Since her other hand was in a sling, she couldn't manage both the net and the sword. The beach towel slipped to the floor with a _clang,_ right beside Calex's head. He stirred, rolling over. Merry murmured in her sleep, something about her back hurting.

"Stupid rust-coated automatons breaking my freaking arm," she muttered. Hiro giggled. He couldn't figure out how to trace the net, the way he had the sword. He shrugged, scampered to Pax's side, and tugged at his duster jacket sleeve towards the van's open back doors.

Lapis looked back up at Axel. "Yea, you think this little sword and net can kill _Papá_. Right?"

Axel sighed. Although Axel or Pax never divulged their plan to Kally, she figured Lapis shouldn't have known about those items.

"Arrest!" Pax corrected. His dark and yellow eyes darted from Lapis to Axel. He ignored Hiro's tugs. "No one needs to kill him. He just needs lots of therapy and hugs. And maybe some star stickers."

Lapis, Axel, and Hiro all glanced around at one another. Hiro made some gesture outward with this thumb, then put the pointer and middle finger of both his hands to his lips and shifted them away.

"Yea, I agree," Lapis said and turned to Pax. "You're not naïve Ajax. You're just an idiot."

She hopped out of the van with the Golden Net. Pax helped Axel step down onto the sidewalk along the building. Kally took a hesitant step out.

Kally hoped they could turn around, shove Hiro out of the van, dash back to Luke's control panel with a, "ha-HA!" and zoom away from the parking lot. But somewhere out there, Kouta had the Song sisters. From how Axel's shoulders drooped and how Pax trembled, they weren't planning an escape.

They were going inside that temple. Kally could sense there was something very bad inside that temple.

She was about to ask how they planned to carry Calex and Merry. Axel was the only one who might be able to carry Calex, but he could hardly stand himself. With Lapis's comment about selling Calex and Merry, Kally wasn't about to leave her friends unguarded and unconscious. Both shifted in their sleep. Merry rolled onto her side, mumbling something about a Chemistry exam.

 _Priorities_ , Kally thought, though she could vainly hope that Athena was instilling some awesome battle strategy to Merry via chemical equation.

From the way they were moving, Calex and Merry would wake up soon.

Hiro released a dramatic sigh. He knelt beside Merry and Calex. He withdrew something from his pocket and stuffed it into Merry's mouth.

"Hey!" Kally protested and went to stop him. Lapis stepped into her path. Kally wondered how many hieroglyphs Lapis could use before she'd run out of steam. Scarier, Kally wondered if Axel or Pax would or could come to her aid if she had to fight Lapis. "What is he giving them?" Kally demanded.

Merry murmured until Hiro covered her mouth with one hand. He stroked her neck. Kally had done that before, to her cats when they needed medicine and refused to take their pills. Merry must have swallowed, because Hiro moved on to do the same thing to Calex.

"Something to sedate their powers. A daughter of Madness and a son of Desire, right Red?" Lapis asked. As Lapis was a Pax, Kally was surprised she'd given an answer at all. "We can't have them running lose."

"Though it would be thematic and appropriate for the club," Pax pitched in. Pax and Axel frowned, but their nonchalance made Kally realize how scarily routine this was for them. She wondered how many times Pax had stuffed pills into the mouths of the unwilling or if he'd trained Hiro.

Within a minute, Hiro had Merry and Calex up. They shambled like zombies in a near-sleep psychosis. She was scared they would fall and hurt themselves—assuming the first two falls _hadn't_ hurt them. Kally would really need to wrap these two in bubble wrap for _in the event of knock out._

Kally helped Hiro lead them to the temple wall so they could lean. Kally held Merry's other hand. Her friend's eyes were half-open, occasionally fluttering closed. Her breath was so slow, Kally was scared it would stop between each exhale. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Kallicakes, you worry too much," Merry hummed sleepily. She giggled as she examined the wall under her fingers. "Pretty, lovely paintings. Looks all Meso-y. What are they of?"

Axel cleared his throat. His voice was tight and Kally wished he would accept some ambrosia. "Our heritage. Mayan art is never just decorative—it always contains a message."

As he talked they walked down the sidewalk, leaving Luke to nuzzle at the concrete he was parked on.

Hiro steadied Calex behind she and Merry. He held the beach towel in his other hand. A part of her hoped Calex would stumble in his dazed state, Hiro would try to catch him, and get crushed flat like a cartoon character. Then they'd only have Lapis to deal with. Once they were ten feet from the van, she realized a dramatic dash to the van was unlikely, as she and Pax were the only ones remotely capable of dashing.

As though to rub it in Kally's face that he was okay, Hiro whistled cheerfully. Lapis walked behind their group, fumbling with the Golden Net and… a wand? Kally guessed that's what the curved piece of wood was.

Along the edge of the building, exterior lighting gleamed up from the ground to show off the colorful artwork and to provide the street with light. Between the sidewalk and the parking lot, there were stone pillars, about fifteen feet apart. At first, Kally had assumed they were some kind of base for light posts, but there were no light posts in the parking lot and the pillars were far too tall.

"They're stelea, monuments to our ancestors," Axel said.

She hadn't realized he and Pax were watching her. Despite Axel's pain, there was some hidden pride in the comment. Maybe it was the way his ears perked up and he tried to lean less on Pax. Kally couldn't stop staring at those ears.

"Oh, Holy Hun-Batz—you haven't _told_ them yet?" Lapis exclaimed from behind. Kally glanced over her and Merry's shoulder to see that Lapis had managed to tangle her free arm in the Golden Net. "By the stars, you're so stupid—"

"Lapis Jacobi P—" Axel growled.

The tone of Hiro's whistling spiraled downward until he mimicked the sound of an explosion. For a split second, Kally wanted to ask how Hiro could do that. The only ASL signer she'd ever met was deaf, so couldn't carry a tune well. Hiro carried his with obnoxious perfection.

Kally also had to marvel that Lapis was surprised that Axel had withheld any information. With how the Pax brothers were, it seemed like she was lucky they'd told her their real names.

"We're descendent from Mopan Mayan royalty," Pax blurted before Axel or Lapis could start fighting. Had Axel not been leaning heavily on his little brother, Kally was certain Axel would have pinched Pax's ear.

Although that sounded important, all Kally could ask was, "What?"

Considering they were progressing towards some unknown doom, Kally wouldn't have cared if Pax said their family was a reincarnation of the founding fathers.

Pax raised his chin in feigned haughtiness. "You could call us Belizean princes."

Calex gave a delirious, rambunctious laugh from behind her, where Hiro helped him along the wall. "Prince of Pricks."

When Kally glanced back, she found that Calex had unfortunately not crushed Hiro and that the two were progressing behind her and Merry. "Princes..?" Kally repeated in a daze. What did that even mean? She hardly knew where Belize was geographically, let alone if it had a monarchy. Was Pax being sarcastic? She glanced at Lapis. "And..?"

Lapis scowled at her. "No princesses. I'm a boy. So yea, princes. And don't you forget it."

Kally almost stopped walking. She was still trying to process the Mopan Mayan royalty thing. Why had Lapis brought up princess versus princesses...?

When she examined Lapis, she could tell Lapis's clothing was meant for men. After what felt like an eternity of stupidity, Kally said, "oh," in a tiny voice.

"Because Santiago is anachronistic and a fool, women... don't have a lot of say in his household," Axel grunted. As he said it, he scowled. "Lapis needs to be a boy to have an opinion."

They passed another stone stelea, depicting what Kally assumed was Mayan royalty. She thought about Pax standing by a throne, one foot on the cushion with a scepter and crown. The thought began as entertaining—Pax would likely order an hour to meditate the awesomeness of Reese's—then melted into something horrifying. The idea shifted to a dark room, lit with torches and a moon roof.

 _Bones littered the floor, interior trees stained with blood._ Kally shook her head.

As they made their way down the sidewalk and past the painted wall, Kally could see other cars—ones that weren't white vans—parked in the front lot.

Lapis shrugged at Axel's comment, struggling to refold the Golden Net and getting it more tangled with her free hand and wand. "Fine by me. It just means Ajaxapax can wear all the dresses in the family—"

"Dresses are comfortable and breezy—"

"—but," she said while narrowing her dark eyes at Kally. "It is he/him to you. These jerks—" She vaguely gestured in a circle to encompass Pax, Axel, and Hiro. "—are only allowed to call me otherwise because we're related." [footnote 3]

"Ah," Kally said. Merry hummed something about the patron of crossdressing, but Kally shushed her. [footnote 4]

Kally's stomach clenched when she thought about what Pax had said about his dad, _"He's a big kid villain_." She, Merry, Euna, and Joey definitely weren't guys. While the three of them might be able to pass it off, Merry _clearly_ wasn't a male with her figure. It wasn't anything Kally had ever needed to worry about. It felt so…surreal.

When Axel cleared his throat, Kally was glad for the distraction. She expected him to bring up something else to validate all her horror at the thought of meeting this infamous Santiago Pax. Instead, he managed to give Lapis a knowing smile. "Did you ever get to take Sarah on that date?" he asked.

"She goes by Sapphire now. But yea. We're a thing," Lapis said stiffly. She—er—he scowled off into the parking lot. After a moment, sh—he puffed up his cheeks and popped them. Lapis released an irritated moan. "Auuugggh, you and your stupid caring. Did you ever get together with that Roman general chick that was trying to kill you?"

Like this was just a normal family reunion. Kally wasn't sure if she was allowed to scream in frustration about how calm that sounded.

"He's got a date with her in Rome," Pax cheered.

Hiro released a cat-calling whistle. From beside him, Calex gave a breathy laugh. "You didn't tell me you pulled her, mate."

Merry tried to give a thumbs up and would have fallen if Kally wasn't there to stabilize her.

Had Axel not lost so much blood, he'd have likely blushed. Instead, he glared down at Pax and would have probably pinched his ear if Pax wasn't his main support.

"If _Papá_ ever lets you leave the house again," Lapis grumbled. Abruptly, he socked Axel's injured shoulder, almost knocking Pax and Axel down. Axel went pale and whined. Pax squeaked as all of Axel's weight nearly floored him.

"You shouldn't have tried to kill Kouta, you self-righteous jerk," Lapis snapped. "He just wants all of us to survive. It's not his fault he doesn't have your stupid ideals about _how_ we survive."

"You know, it might hurt him _more_ if you wait until he's weak and defeated before you hit and insult him," Pax grumbled as he stumbled to keep the two of them on their feet.

If Kally thought Merry could stand on her own, she'd have darted to Axel's side. However, if his circus-trained little brother couldn't keep him up, Kally was pretty sure they'd just have three people on the ground if she ran to help.

Axel managed to keep upright with Pax's help. He scowled at the ground, panting heavily. After a few moments to collect himself, Pax and he started forward again, like the sock to the shoulder was just a sick version of a hug.

Kally didn't know if she should say it, but if Lapis hit Axel like that again, she was going to use whatever knowledge she'd gained from Mr. Paine and Chiron to slam Lapis into the wall. Another strike to Axel's shoulder would likely leave him unconscious. From the way Lapis and Axel avoided eye contact and sized up how much they hated the sidewalk, she wondered how close the two of them were before Axel ran away from home. She also wondered how much Lapis and Hiro cared about Pax and Axel.

Everyone walked in relative silence until they rounded the corner of the temple. Except Merry and Hiro. She hummed softly and whispered that she could smell a party while Hiro accompanied her humming with whistles.

They rounded the corner to the front of the temple.

Kally had been right about the shape of the temple. It was tiered all the way around. Another stairwell extended from the sidewalk up to the highest levels. On this side though, the stairwell had an indent at the bottom level for a doorway.

As they approached, Kally could see the carvings were of a giant, reptilian monster. Teeth hung like stalactites from the top of the black double doors. They'd have to step through the statue monster's jaws to enter. She felt like it would be as dangerous as stepping into Python's mouth.

There was a neon sign above the statue's head. It read: _Club Discordia_

Axel had gathered himself. His voice was strained as he asked, "Why didn't we go through the back entrance? It would have been easier."

Lapis grinned. "Everyone is going to want to see you…" He winked at Kally. "And I wanted to properly intimidate your friends."

With his good, net-tangled arm, Lapis opened a door to _Club Discordia_.

Kally and her friends were engulfed by the monster's jaws.

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! I was kinda deliriously feverish when editing this, so I hope there's no stray comments about Hippos or anything. And I hope you enjoyed the reveals!

* * *

Footnotes!

1 Don't drop guns. Depending on how sensitive the trigger is, a gun can go off if you drop it. (Look at all these little disclaimers!)

2 Lapis almost falls because she's clumsy, not because she's affected by her own spell. There was some confusion in the beta of this, but I am WAY too feverish while editing to properly address this within chapter.

3 This was Mel's comment on this section that I had to share with you because she nailed it: "Pax: Kitty smile :3

Axel: wry smile and tired

Hiro: giant and creepy smile like the jerk he is."

4 Merry's father—god of cross dressing. Author Jack really ought to take him on as his spirit animal.


	30. Kal: Not a Bedroom Romance

Warning: This chapter references dark events and implied (and direct) past violence. Read at your own discretion.

Thirty: Kalyso [footnote 1]

Not a Bedroom Romance

As soon as Kally walked into Club Discordia, she could tell that she wasn't important enough to be there. One piece of furniture in this room probably cost more than all the furniture in her house combined.

From the movies she'd seen, Kally assumed clubs were supposed to be loud: throbbing with music and people dancing. Those expectations crumbled at the sight of a jaguar on one side of the room. Club Discordia was softer, exclusive, and… the only proper word she could think of was exquisite.

The only similarity was the smell. As they stepped through the monster-jaw doorframe, a haze of cigar smoke drifted into her face, making her want to gag.

There were white leather couches arranged around round, reflective tables. Each table had a vase atop with a single, heart-shaped, burgundy flower and two candles on either side. The walls were black stone. The one on her left was carved Mesoamerican style, depicting men and women in grand headdresses sitting on top or beside tables, in conversation. Where ever there was a table in the room, the wall carving behind it was inlaid with jade.

Dim lights glowed from the floor to illuminate the craftsmanship.

The other wall was a sheet of glass that must have extended well above this room's ceiling. Inside, there was a jaguar habitat, with lush, tropical foliage spread across the dirt floor. A waterfall flooded down from some second story section of the enclosure to a small pool. Trees sprouted from the ground and disappeared out of sight.

A jaguar lounged on a fallen tree that stretched across the pool of water. As with all cats, it had mastered the art of looking bored.

There was no official stage, but a small jazz band played on the wall opposite the entrance. The female singer was short, brunette, and had a soft, sweet voice. In the far corner, there was a speakeasy style bar.

Kally did a double take when she saw the bartender. He—or she, Kally couldn't really tell—had an axe in place of a head.

In such a club, Kally would have expected everyone to be dressed in formal attire, maybe the kind of people you'd find on Wall Street. But she'd never seen such a variety of attendees. Many did have silk suits, gowns, or tuxedos, but plenty of the same people had ripped off sleeves, piercings, colorful mohawks, tattoo sleeves, chains, and weapons. A few were anthropomorphic or demonic.

Some of them were playing cards at the couches. Others were by the pool tables on the sides of the room while others lounged at the bar. Everyone had a jade colored glass in their hands. The club felt light with laughter, excitement and anticipation. Something big was about to happen and everyone here knew it.

When people saw them enter, a cheer roared through the room. Like the steady tug of a whirlpool, guests came up to greet them. Some hugged the four Pax siblings. One huge man with a bearskin cloak patted Axel's back in a good-natured hello. Axel looked ready to pass out. Kally wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Horror clogged her throat when she found out she was expected to interact. She wasn't sure what she'd _been_ expecting: that she'd be a prisoner, that she'd be dragged into a dungeon and forced to watch reruns of The Bachelor, Duck Dynasty, and Fox News and drink kale smoothies, maybe?

At first, no one paid her mind and she could wallow in confusion. Then Lapis jabbed a finger towards she, Merry, and Calex and muttered, "Yea, brought Ajaxapax, his girlfriend and some friends for Dad's little finale."

"Laaapppiiissss," Pax whined. He gave Kally a miserable, apologetic smile. "She's not—"

"Shut up Jaxapax," he grumbled. "I saw how you stepped in front of Red earlier."

Then people and walking axeheads were shaking her hand, asking who her parents were, if she was a goddess—a question that made Kally remember how Hera almost turned Joey into confetti—and, "What ever happened to that boy that Ajax was so hung up on? Did you know him?"

Each name and face was as foreign as the last—someone had blue skin and a flute, another was an African man with a suit perfectly split down the center between a red suit and a blue and white striped suit, like a Batman villain.

He laughed at Calex. Several attendants had rushed to Hiro's side to help hold him up. "Ah! Calex Rupin McKenzie. What would Tiwa say if she knew you were enjoying the delirious effects of White Pipe?"

Kally had to wonder how this man knew Calex. From the exhausted confusion in Calex's grey eyes, she guessed he didn't know either.

"Eshu..?" he whispered. [footnote 2]

"Always ready for one of Strife's parties. She said it would be our favorite kind of finale," Eshu cheered.

That didn't clarify anything, but before Kally could ask, the man saluted his drink to them and blended back into the crowd.

In the confusion, someone with a spear for a head asked to take their coats. Mr. Pointy had to corner Merry into Calex to remove the jacket Dionysus had gifted her. It was the closest thing to disarming Merry and made it even more difficult for Kally to keep Merry standing.

Once the… thing? took Kally's sweater, she felt even more underdressed in her jeans and T-shirt. Kally didn't know if she should be afraid, embarrassed, or angry. Maybe a dungeon would have been kinder. Then she'd understand what was going on. This place felt bewildering and chaotic.

They let Kally keep her messenger bag, which shocked her. Lapis had seen her use the Argonaut statue and Kally definitely had it tucked away. Maybe Lapis was distracted. He was trying to shoo people away and corral their group to the other side of the room while Hiro wanted to linger and show them off.

Although Kally couldn't keep track of anyone's names and they seemed to blur by, Axel and Pax knew everyone. Both boys went into some kind of autopilot, like they were used to this type of party and were reciting lines from etiquette classes. Charming smiles, tempered laughs, and confident retorts; Kally realized they _had_ been trained in this type of confrontation.

Once Lapis smacked Hiro upside the head for motioning over another person, he managed to pull them from the cycling guests. Axel dipped his head to Lapis's ear, nodding towards the glass cage. "Have you been taking care of Juana?" he asked, baring his teeth in a weird grin.

One more thing to make the room tense: the jaguar had noticed them. It stalked up to the glass, getting as close as possible, and made a low snarl. One that Kally recognized. That deep throaty cough sounded just like Axel's. Upon examining it, his ears were a black furred version of the jaguar's.

Lapis snorted. "Listen Tuff Ears, I can make sure she's fed, but I can't exactly wrestle with her the same way you can."

"Wimp," Axel teased through grit teeth.

No one in the crowd had bothered to ask Axel about the bloody bandages over his shoulder or about his sling. Everyone had been too excited to see him and Pax, but it bothered Kally. Were injuries like that so common place here? What _was_ this place?

Lapis made a grab for Axel's ear and he snapped his teeth at Lapis's hand.

Lapis made a rude gesture back before motioning them to follow him out a door by the bar.

As they slipped away from the crowd, plunging into the darkness of a hallway, Kally blurted, "Is this a bar for _gods_?!" Normally, she might have been too shy to ask, but something snapped in Kally. She almost didn't care how Lapis responded.

Lapis cracked his neck. He snapped his good hand, and a flaming axe appeared in it. The walls around them flickered into view and looked closer to the type of dungeon Kally had expected. "Yea Red. Ajaxapax's mom over here—" Lapis stepped backwards into his brother. Pax yipped. "—stole Papa's heart. He didn't think anything would ever heal it after Miss. Lovely Nilley, but that goddess certainly did. Even his business fling with my mom, Sarah Jacobi and his kidnapping of Iwakura Hikari didn't sate his longing. So now he has a club in honor of Ajaxapax's mom, inviting all her friends and making them feel at home. Now shut up and get walking."

* * *

After several confusing twists and turns and an awkward elevator ride… a REALLY awkward elevator ride. Hiro decided to provide elevator music by whistle, Merry picked up on the song and started to hum, Pax joined in with a," da-da-da-da," and—shockingly—Axel purred and Calex sang. Whatever Hiro gave Calex and Merry must have been strong, for neither found the scenario the least bit disconcerting.

After Lapis shushed all of them and they twisted down a few more hallways with scary Mesoamerican art on the walls, he stopped outside a door that was painted rainbow.

"Ajaxapax, go get changed and fix your hair," Lapis growled. "Dad will want you properly dressed for his ascension."

Pax stared at the door like the entrance to a KKK meeting. "If by fix my hair, you mean— _Ay! AY! AY!_ "

He squeaked when Lapis grabbed his ear, threw the door open, and tossed him in. Then Lapis rounded on Kally. "Go help fix up his hair. He's a hopeless moron on his own. Do I need to throw you in by your—"

"Don't touch me," Kally snapped. The anger felt foreign to her, but she knew it was justified. Without any concern for Lapis, she turned to examine Calex and Merry. Both leaned heavily against the wall. Merry had a dumb grin on her face. Calex had nuzzled into her shoulder. At least they weren't afraid, but Kally would way rather have Merry's wit and Calex's charm at full capacity for facing the baddies.

"They stay right here, unharmed, with no foul tampering, while I'm inside with Pax," she demanded.

Hiro whistled out a laugh. Lapis grunted. Kally could have sworn Axel nodded in approval.

"Whatever Red. Mr. Dartface is watching them while I wrestle Axel into proper attire. Like a muzzle," Lapis said. "Swear on the River Styx and whatever you Greeks do."

Kally wasn't sure if the River Styx pacts affected Egyptians, but she only had a split second to decide. From the way Axel scowled at Lapis, that muzzle part was at least true.

Do Pax's hair? Whatever that meant, it shouldn't take long.

Kally gave Lapis one last menacing look before she stepped through the rainbow door.

"Holy Hun-Batz, you suck at threatening," she could hear Lapis mutter. "Give him hugs and stuff. It's going to be a rough night for that kid."

With the rainbow colored door, Kally wasn't sure what to expect. The exterior had the stone façade of a dungeon. In here… [footnote 3]

The room was huge. There was a king size bed in the center, with sheets that were decorated with two superheroes: one dark haired girl in a red and black polka dotted costume, the other a blond boy in a black cat costume. There was a sewing machine in one corner—a nice one with lots of settings that Kally could certainly break. A twelve foot tall cubby beside it contained brilliant fabrics of various colors. There were three sewing mannequins nearby, one with a lovely green gown, another with a suit of armor, and the last with a simple T-shirt, embroidered with the words, _Hercules said_ , and trailing off.

There was a loom, a canvas with stretched embroidery, and another canvas with tempera paints splattered all around. The floor was once white stone, but it had paint drips and stray yarn and string. Band posters for rock bands were posted everywhere on the walls.

The set up didn't quite make sense. Some of it was too close, some of it was awkwardly distant. Areas were lit and other areas were dark. It was utter chaos, and Kally quickly realized this was Pax's room.

For an instant, she was shocked. All this time she'd pitied the boys for living out of their van. But Pax had _this_ : a giant room filled to the brim with creative supplies just waiting for innovation.

Then she noticed the back corner of the room, behind the bed.

In that corner, the wall was decorated with a whip, a club, and a chain. The wall itself was bare of posters and the ground was stained with something other than paint. A pair of chains stretched down from the wall, as though to hold someone up.

Kally felt sick.

Pax stood at the foot of his bed. He'd stripped off his shirt and hung it from a bedpost. He was poking at a burgundy dress shirt that was stretched out on the sheets. This shirt was individualized for him, with colorful paint streaks and band logos sewn at various angles along the front.

Without his siblings around, Pax's façade fell. The bubbling energy that he usually exuded was gone. Tears streaked down his cheeks. He didn't blubber like he normally did when she'd seen him cry. He wept silently, biting his lip—Kally assumed—to try to stop.

Kally stepped around the room's obstacles of discarded fabrics and forgotten art projects. As she approached him, the scars across Pax's back looked so much more prominent. Maybe it was because of the awkward lighting, or maybe it was because of the horrifying section to the back of the room. After going through the house, she could now recognize the tattoo that extended above his hip depicting Mayan hieroglyphs.

Earlier that night, during the Pax brother's circus performance, she'd seen that Axel had a vicious scar that stretched across the same area of Pax's tattoo. She wondered if all the Pax children had the same tattoo.

Kally didn't know what to say. She only recently found out that Merry's father was abusive, and she still didn't know what to say there—or how to say it.

There was a teddy bear beside the dress shirt, one from a Build-A-Bear factory. When she leveled with him, she picked it up awkwardly.

As her fingers made contact, a recording played out of its wrist.

A woman's soft voice whispered, " _Ne! Itte! Itte! 'Daisuki Ni-chan_!'" [footnote 4]

White noise filtered through the recorder for a moment, then a young boy mumbled self-consciously, " _Daisuki Ni-chan… bai bai_!" [footnote 5]

There was a giggle, like the woman had tickled the young boy, then the recording cut off.

Kally cradled the teddy bear in her hands. She felt like she had to say something. "Who was that?" her voice came out as soft as the woman's.

Pax sniffled. He rubbed the back of his hand across his face to remove some of the tears and snot. "Hiro and Miss Iwakura."

Kally swallowed. "So, Hiro can talk?" she asked.

Pax nodded. He took the teddy bear from her hands and smiled sadly at it. "The question is whether or not Hiro could stop talking when we were kids—well, without assistance of a friendly gag. They made this a few hours before Miss Iwakura tried to kill both of them. Axel and Kouta broke into the room in enough time to save Hiro. She'd tied him up and tied plastic wrap over his head. But they weren't able to save her. She broke her neck when she fell from the rafters. Hiro hasn't spoken aloud since."

Everything was said so fast, so casually, that Kally didn't quite understand at first. She stared at the teddy bear in Pax's hands. She didn't speak any Japanese, but that laughter had sounded so genuine. And she didn't need to speak Japanese to understand Hiro's, "bye bye!" at the end. She wondered if Miss Iwakura said they were taking a trip or running away. Slowly, Kally glanced up at the rafters.

Pax gently took Kally's hand. "It wasn't in here. It was in Hiro's room. He hasn't slept in his room since either. He usually bunks with one of us but none of us really like having separate rooms anyway. Too much space for monsters, creepies, and Catholic disciplinarians."

His laugh was hollow. His hand felt cold. "Dad said it was a good thing. He said Ixtab… the… the Mayan suicide goddess would escort Miss Iwakura straight to paradise, so she could enjoy the shade of the Yaxche tree."

Pax dropped the teddy bear. As it made contact with the ground, the recording echoed out again, " _Ne! Itte! Itte! 'Daisuki Ni-chan!'_ "

" _Daisuki Ni-chan… bai bai!"_

Pax turned to Kally. His lower lip quivered. "I don't want to be here. I don't want you to be here. I want us to all be safe and Dad to smell the ambrosia and take a little less advice from sage speakers like Dionysus and Hannibal Lector—and—and—I want a hug."

With how desperate he sounded, Kally had to wonder what he expected her to say. S _orry your life sucks, but my therapist said hugs put undo stress on my apathy_ or something else cold?

Kally hugged him, pressing her face into Pax's shoulder. Until then, she hadn't realized how much _she_ needed a hug. Pax held her, his body shuddering. His chocolate scent was comforting.

He sank onto the bed, pulling her down alongside him. They lay there, scared, exhausted, and silent. Something about Miss Iwakura made Kally realize she might never see her mother again and that the last words she said to her older brother were "stop it!" like she was a four-year-old trying to get a toy back.

"I guess asking for a kiss would be pushing it, right?" Pax finally whispered.

"Only a mile too far," she said. Kally withdrew enough to see his face.

Pax had calmed down, though he still had tear streaks, now edging the bridge of his nose. A faint mimic of that sly smile crept onto his face and he winked his yellow eye at her. "Eh, it's okay. Now I can tell Merry we cuddled on my bed while I was half-naked—"

Kally reached up to snag a pillow and swat Pax in the face with it. She bit back a sob. She wanted to joke with him, but she knew something bad was going to happen soon.

Fortunately, he didn't notice. He gave a more genuine laugh and cooed, "Ohhhh, and we had a pillow fight on my bed. She's going to love this."

"Ajax," Kally warned.

Pax gave her a dumb, fragile grin. "Yes _mi_ _cariño_?"

She thought about how to best phrase everything to Pax, especially since he looked so… vulnerable. "Traumatic back stories plus evil captive scenarios don't equal a romantic set up," she said.

Pax pouted at her. "Ah, Cyclops, I knew I shouldn't have been watching so many vampire and werewolf romances."

She didn't know what _mi cariño_ meant, but she was pretty sure _Cyclops_ was a comfortable step back towards the platonic side of things. [foot note 6] Kally exhaled shakily and sat up. "Come on," she said. "We need to… fix up your hair?"

"Yea…" Pax sheepishly glanced off to the side. "That's gonna be harder than getting Axel to say, 'I'm a pretty butterfly.' Trust me. We made a bet on it once."

Kally sighed. It scared her that the easiest part of her night would be salon treatment. She searched around the end of the bed, finding a container of hair gel. She'd never styled someone's hair before and wasn't sure how to go about doing this.

Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. From the red rim on his eyes, she realized he was about to cry again. "One day, Dad's going to realize controlling his kids is as difficult as controlling my hair," he muttered.

"Futile?" she asked.

Pax nodded his head. Slowly, he sat on the floor and instructed her to help him slick his fohawk back. As Kally slipped her fingers through his thick locks, she wished they didn't have to step into the hallway and confront the next domino to fall.

* * *

Thank you guys for reading! To explain the title of this chapter, I wrote this scene and sent it to my editor with a note that said, "I finally wrote you a fluff scene!" I received a very angry email the next day saying, "HOW DARE YOU HURT ME WITH A FLUFF SCENE!" ... Yea, Mel is still mad at me. Sooo, less deceiving chapter title!

* * *

Footnotes!

1 Entire first scene was written to Lone Digger by Caravan Palace if you'd like to get the music vibe XD watch?v=TbsBEb1ZxWA

2 Eshu Elegba: Yoruba Orisha of Trickery

3 This entire section was written to Gloomy Clock by IU. Ooooo, the end of this book has a soundtrack XD watch?v=D9s3kDiHK9g

4 "Say it! Say it! 'I love you (older) brother!'" (Thanks for fixing my Japanese Mel!)

5 "I love you (older) brother. Bye bye!"

6 Translation: My love/tenderness/passion/care. I don't feel like it translates perfectly into English, but this is close!


	31. Axel: Ice Cream Social

Thirty-One: Axel

Who Doesn't Want an Ice Cream Social? This Guy

Axel hated wearing a muzzle. By the time Pax and Kally came out of Pax's room, Lapis had Axel in a black leather muzzle and a burgundy dress shirt. At least it was better than the straight jacket. [footnote 1]

Something about it unsettled Calex. Both he and Merry were still delirious from the pills Hiro had given them and had taken seats on the hallway floor, but Calex started asking borderline incoherent questions about Axel's wellbeing.

Axel didn't have the heart to tell Calex this was normal, that this is why he couldn't stand going to zoos, pet stores, farms, or seeing Juana locked up in her cage.

He remembered when Santiago gave him the jaguar, "so you have a friend that understands you." The gift was given a month after Frasco and Nilley were murdered, when Santiago didn't trust Axel to run around without a muzzle. Santiago had killed Juana's mother in the wild and taken her when she was a few months old—with the logic that Axel would like her more.

At first, Axel rejected her. When she first came to the temple, she was scared, alone, and confused. Axel didn't want to get close to the cub. He didn't want Santiago to have any other leverage over him or his siblings.

He could picture how tiny Juana was the first night that his resolve broke and he played with her. They'd let Axel out of his muzzle for the first time since he'd gotten to the temple, after he had finished up weapons training with one of Santiago's best. Juana was in the corner of her glass cage, refusing to eat when one of her caretakers tried to feed her.

She'd gotten sick and Axel knew she was going to die if she didn't eat.

He'd shoved the caretakers away. They'd freaked out that one of Santiago's son—his _favorite_ son—was doing menial work. But Juana let Axel pick her up, cradle her, and feed her from one of the formula milk dispensers.

Then, every night, Axel snuck into her cage to help feed her, to wrestle with her, and play with her. She became healthy and became his best friend. Santiago had been right: he did understand her, with her desperate want for freedom, her boredom being locked in a cage, and her longing for independence. He had promised her he'd release her back into the jungles of Belize.

He'd made a lot of promises he was starting to fear he couldn't keep.

When Pax and Kally walked out, Pax faked a smile. Axel hated seeing him do that. Kally—who covered her mouth to hide her fear—had made an admirable attempt at fixing Pax's hair. It made Axel wince.

As much as he loved Pax, when his hair was slicked back like that, he looked _a lot_ like a younger Santiago. Except with stray curls of hair that would pop out. There was one especially resilient one at the front that liked to curl over Pax's hazel eye. Pax was very proud of that one and liked to name it things when his hair was back, like _the Chosen One_ and _Superman._

Lapis sighed. "Ajaxapax, how did you _already_ wrinkle your shirt? Mel just had everything dry cleaned."

"Kally and I were messing around on my bed," Pax said with a wink.

Kally finally let go of her face to swat him. "Pax!"

Hiro, who was sitting on the floor doing card tricks for Merry and Calex, made a cat calling whistle.

Merry raised a sleepy eyebrow at them. "I guess that's one way to get changed," she hummed.

Kally's blush intensified. Axel was surprised she hadn't broken Pax's nose yet. He was waiting for the day she hit him and one of those strength meters popped up above his head to read _Justified Heart Crushing!_

With difficulty and swearing (from Lapis of course), they returned to the elevator. Axel knew they'd be going to the ninth tier, 365 steps up.

Once the elevator dinged, they arrived at a small atrium. A set of fancy obsidian doors were directly across from the elevator, maybe seven feet away. Two guards stood on either side of the doors with baseball sized automatic rifles. Kouta paced in front of the door, rubbing his injured shoulder. Sitting on the floor beside them were Euna and Joey.

"Gods! It took you long enough!" Joey shouted. She was… smiling. Neither had any restraints on. Other than the bruises from Mel's binding spell, she didn't look injured.

Euna, on the other hand, looked like she'd experimented with eating a bowling ball. There were bruises all over her face, blackening both her eyes, and… she might have fractured her left cheek bone. The skin there was puffed up and she could barely open that eye.

From the way Kouta palmed his _Taurus Judge_ , the giant revolver, Axel could guess where those marks had come from. Despite Axel's exhaustion and pain, he felt rage make him tremble.

Euna didn't seem fazed by it. If anything, she had a small smirk on her lips.

Before he could ask, Euna tilted her head at him in confusion. "Why are you in cosplay?" she asked as casually as though he'd walked into her living room.

"Wha-" he started to mumble through the muzzle.

 _My Mist mask_. He'd been too exhausted and distracted to keep it up. And his muzzle must have looked ridiculous. _A cosplay though?_ Axel felt his cheeks get hot.

"Oh my gods! His ears just _MOVED!_ " Joey squealed.

Axel hadn't been aware until she said it, but he could feel his ears fold against his hairline in embarrassment. Ever since they left the circus, he hated people seeing his ears.

As this was a sore subject, Kouta grunted.

Joey didn't seem to notice Kouta. Axel might have thought she and Euna had been drugged, like Merry and Calex, but they seemed too aware. "Can you find any way to get weirder? I mean, Pax, do _you_ have cat ears? Oh gods—you—you look like a _person_."

From the tone of Joey's voice, she was impressed by Pax's new presentation. Pax merely sighed in response. "Alas no, only Axel is cool enough for that. I get neat band logos."

Axel gave Pax a grim smile. He would have nudged him with his shoulder if it wouldn't incite spikes of pain. "You're still an eagle warrior."

"Do you have a beak or something?" Merry cooed playfully. She gave Kally a dumb grin as she leaned heavily into the wall. "I feel like Kally would have noticed that."

"Shut up," Kally grumbled.

Calex examined Axel carefully, stumbling into the wall beside Euna. "Why _are_ you in fancy dress, mate?"

Axel did _not_ want to answer that question.

"Enough," Kouta snapped. He scowled at Axel. From his hesitation, Axel could tell Kouta was scared of approaching him, even with the muzzle on. With the way he was favoring his one hand, Axel assumed that shoulder wound still really hurt. "Dad said we're scheduled to come inside in a few minutes." He turned to Lapis. "Don't let your prisoners act out, okay Lapis?"

"Act out?" Lapis demanded. She'd stepped out of the elevator with Hiro beside her. Like Hiro always did when Lapis's temper started to flare, he mimicked the way she stepped up to Kouta. "You have as much control over your prisoners as I would over my fist in an anger management session. Hey—" Lapis turned to Euna. "—Grass Hippie. What did you do to make Kouta so mad?"

Euna didn't say anything, but her small smile intensified. Joey sat up, grinning. "Euna brought a tree down on top of the van. [footnote 2] That guy with us, Mel, shattered his leg in the crash, but we were fine. They had to call an Uber," Joey sounded _incredibly_ pleased and proud.

Axel now understood Euna's smirk. If he could, he would have hugged her and told her he was proud too. He also tried to think of the Uber driver's expression, _"One trip to the hospital and another to the giant temple on Third Street—oh! I forgot you were a mortal. Warehouse on Third Street."_

Kouta raised his revolver like he was going to strike Joey across the face. Euna snapped her foot at his ankle, knocking him off balance. Before he could fall, Lapis steadied him. She took a strategic step between him and the Song sisters. "Papa is already going to be pissed you—"

Before she could continue, the obsidian doors opened. A man and a woman stepped out, laughing and dragging out a third member. She was tall, and built for Valhalla, and had the fiery grin to match the fiercest berserker.

She paused and gave Axel that smile. "Oh! The Vision Serpant told Lapis you'd be here tonight. Welcome home!"

Winry's booming comment made Axel feel nauseous, along with the nonchalance of the man beside her. Axel didn't know Lapis had been conferring with the Vision Serpent. Before, Santiago had used Miss Iwakura. Out of all of his siblings, the god came most readily to Pax, but Pax _hated_ the ceremony involved beforehand. [footnote 3]

The third member of the party was a thug of some kind. Axel assumed it was a member or lobbyist for one of the gangs or pharmaceutical companies that Santiago did business with. From the look of the unconscious man's broken, battered body, this was a member that had incited Santiago's distaste.

"Just throwing away the trash. We'll see you in there!" Winry said without waiting for an answer. "Oh, mind the snacks Ajax!" she called over her shoulder. They dragged the man to the elevator and out of sight.

Everyone paused. Although he was sure the others must have guessed from Kouta and Lapis's actions, the sight of the near-corpse seemed to solidify the seriousness of their position.

"Euna, if we're about to meet this guy, you should put your eye drops in, so we're not rude in front of him," Joey suggested.

Axel glanced over at the Song sisters. Joey had gone from beaming to critical.

"What eye drops?" Euna asked in utter confusion.

"You know, the ones that make your complexion a little more _sunny_ —which you seriously need right now," Joey said.

When Euna stared at her blankly, Joey scowled. "They're in your pocket! Ugh, I swear—if I wasn't here, you'd be worthless." She shook her head and gave Kouta a _you know how dumb siblings can be, right?_ look. "She's had an infection for weeks that won't get better because she keeps forgetting."

"Whatever, just hurry it up," Kouta grumbled.

Euna shoved her hand into her jeans. When she pulled out the eye dropper inside, her one good eye went wide. "Oh, cool," she muttered.

Axel caught his breath. _Hemera's sunlight_ , _one drop putting the user to temporary god mode._ He _really_ wanted to hug the Song sisters. Resourceful and feisty. Had he still been a Lieutenant in Kronos's army, he would have made sure they came to every war counsel.

Euna tried to put the drop in her bad eye. Naturally, as soon as she touched the puffed out part of her cheek, she flinched and missed. When the droplet made contact with her cheek, the area immediately looked less inflamed.

However the drop worked, Euna must not have felt a difference. She slipped the container with the remaining two drops into her pocket and shrugged at Joey.

Joey huffed.

As Calex sank down beside Euna, he frowned. "Your face," he muttered and touched her chin gingerly.

Although Axel understood Calex's concern, he tried his best not to stare. With each glance he managed, Euna's bruises healed. It was similar to how Pax healed—uncomfortably fast for someone who looked mortal. Even if Euna couldn't feel it, those drops _were_ doing something.

A radio went off, making Axel look at one of the guards beside the doorway. The guard picked up his radio, the straight-forward expression breaking as the radio said, " _We're ready."_

The guards opened the obsidian doors.

Axel swallowed. He'd planned to have the Golden Net and Backbiter for the next time he met Santiago, so he could capture Santiago and cut off his head.

Now, Lapis had the net and Hiro had the sword. He was too exhausted and injured to use any of his magic. Pax would be too scared. Merry and Calex were drugged to compliance. He wasn't sure Euna would have the brutality to deal with his father.

With those worries, Axel clenched his jaw and stepped into Santiago's throne room.

* * *

The room was as he remembered. Above the center, there was a square dome with an opening to the outside in the center of each dome wall. This allowed the smoke in the room to drift up into the heavens—not exactly as their ancestor's intended, but Santiago had made adjustments to implement some modern grandeur.

Upon entering, a long table was spread before them, nearly barricading the rest of the room. There were thirteen attendees present, all dressed in celebratory gowns and suits. Axel knew them to be the heads of Santiago's organization, his contacts with other companies, and the representatives from different gangs. They were all people who had accepted Santiago to be the next popular deity that would be gossiped about in Aphrodite's _The Glade_.

Beyond that table, there was a second, smaller one. This one had ten sundaes in perfect display at each empty seat, presumably for their ice creams social.

On a raised altar in the center of the room was a simple pithos, a symbol of love to Pax's mother. Beyond that was an in-floor fire pit. Normally, the flames would have flicked the colors of autumn, but they burned black. Axel stared. He wasn't sure what Santiago could be burning that would come out black.

Opposite their entrance, there was a throne made from bones and bound with human tendons. Through the crackle of black flames, Axel could see Santiago Pax. He sat calmly, though his fingers impatiently tapped the top of a metal cane. The room radiated with his energy—chaotic, eager, and hungry—and, for a moment, Axel could almost understand why everyone thought he was already a god.

Axel never could though. Santiago didn't deserve to become a god.

Santiago rose. As he did so, everyone else in the room silenced and rose. Everyone except Marvin. Axel wasn't surprised he hadn't changed from the last time he was here: always a slacker, napping at the back corner of a table. He didn't seem to notice everyone else get up until a woman beside him nudged his arm. Then he jumped to his feet.

"Sit. Relax," Santiago commanded softly.

Those at the table sat back down but remained silent. Marvin was probably going to fall right back into a nap.

Now they could clearly see Santiago across the room.

With how Pax's face was thinning with maturity, the resemblance between he and Santiago was uncomfortable. Santiago had a similar restless intensity in his dark eyes. They had similar black hair, slicked back in Santiago's favorite style, though Santiago didn't have stray rebels like Pax did. Instead of wearing a burgundy dress shirt, like his children, Santiago wore a full, burgundy silk suit, complete with a vest. His undershirt was off-white and Axel recognized the grey striped tie tucked into the vest—Pax had given it to Santiago as a birthday gift. Pax had been terrified of giving it, but was convinced Santiago might change his childrearing methods if Pax showed him what real affection was.

Women, and a few men, often told Axel that his father was handsome, charming, and funny. They hadn't seen his cruelty or his brutality. They didn't know that Santiago used the same devilish smirk when he was complimenting a dress that he would use while whipping one of them for stepping out of line.

Kouta shoved Axel forward, hitting him in the middle of his back. Pain shot through Axel's shoulder wound. He grunted as he and Pax led their procession inside.

As they entered, Santiago set his metal cane in front of him and folded her fingers atop. Several dinner guests smiled and nodded in greeting.

Axel froze and Pax flinched when they heard a familiar _crack_.

There were bowls of walnuts on the table. Marvin had cracked one out but froze when everyone glanced back over at him.

 _Stupid Marvin._

Axel could hear Pax in the early stages of hyperventilation. One of his brother's hands dropped to his utility belt, to touch his spare EpiPen. Without direct contact, Axel hoped Pax wouldn't have a reaction, but Santiago's message was clear: _start something and I'll take Ajax out of commission._

As Kouta pushed them around the table, he took a handful from a pre-cracked bowl and munched happily. Although Axel couldn't see his face—and wouldn't dare break eye contact with Santiago—he could envision Kouta's sneer of satisfaction at Pax's panic.

Lapis grumbled something in Egyptian Arabic, " _Makhah jazmat,_ " from behind him. [footnote 4] Although Axel didn't know much of that language since Miss Jacobi and Mel only spoke it around Lapis, he was pretty sure she'd called Kouta a shoe. [footnote 5] If this whole approaching doom thing wasn't going on, he would have high-fived her and gladly added to the insult.

As they approached the fire pit, Axel could smell something acrimonious burning and heard a rumbling. The fire wasn't just burning, it was _boiling_. Axel broke eye contact to examine the pit. The site was unnatural, flames intermixed with roaring, black bubbles. There were familiar containers nearby, the ones Lapis and Hiro had filled with the River Styx. That _was_ water from the River Styx. What was Santiago doing?

When they got to the base of the throne's platform, Pax dropped to his knees. Axel wanted to growl at him to get up, but he felt Kouta kick out the backs of his legs as well. Axel dropped beside his brother. Pain shot through his shoulder, making him clench his teeth.

"Rise," Santiago said faintly.

Axel tried to stand. For a horrified moment, he was scared he might pass out. He thought he'd be okay. He'd been injured grievously before. Reyna had almost killed him in one battle against Rome. But the adrenaline was failing him.

Axel pictured Frasco and Nilley's bodies—broken, bleeding, and mangled. He focused on his father's cane, remembering how Santiago cracked Axel's arm and tossed him into his mother and uncle's corpses.

With grit teeth, Axel rose to his feet to stare into Santiago's crazed, dark eyes.

Pax rose beside him. Although he didn't look at Pax, Axel was certain Pax would keep his eyes to the ground, sobbing silently.

Santiago threw his arms around them in a warming hug, careful not to touch Axel's shoulder.

"My boys," he whispered. "Welcome home."

* * *

Thanks for reading guys! We're so close to the ending now! :D Two chapters left. I hope you're all enjoying the Pax family! Or hating them-whichever fits your fancy.

* * *

Footnotes:

1 You're going to notice something on Lapis's gender. Whenever a Pax boy refers to Lapis, she'll be referred to as a girl. That's because the Pax brothers have permission to refer to her as such. If Lapis is discussed by any of the other seven, he'll be referred to as a boy, because he's addressed as a male in their eyes (except when a certain character gets forgetful later… you'll see). With other future characters that aren't listed yet, it will depend on whether or not that person is willing to acknowledge that Lapis has a choice over his/her gender, as I write according to the character's beliefs and not my own.

2 Is it bad that this makes me laugh more than any other joke in the book?

3 I know I'm not going into detail on the Mayan Mythology here. It's because I plan to do more with it later. Sorry for the delay on that! Plus, Santiago does a bastardized mix of Mesoamerican and Greek practice.

4 مخه جزمة.

5 I know it sounds playful in English, but don't go around saying this. The cultural connotation is really nasty.


	32. Axel: Shut Your Mouth with a New Meaning

Thirty-Two: Axel

This Gives "Keep Your Mouth Shut" a WHOLE Other Meaning

* * *

Warning: More adult and violence and blababla. Read at your own discretion.

* * *

Axel wanted the muzzle caging his fangs to dissolve more than he'd ever wanted anything before. His face was pressed into Santiago's shoulder. It would be so easy to end it here.

Pax sobbed once aloud.

Santiago pulled away. He gave them a critical smile. Gently, Santiago placed his free hand on Pax's face.

Pax went still.

"There's no room for wilting flowers here Ajax. Smile and wipe away your tears." As he spoke, Santiago rubbed the watery streaks from under Pax's eyes.

Pax swallowed, choked, and smiled. "Yes, father."

Santiago released him and threw his hands open in a grand gesture. "Today is a day of celebration! My strongest cubs have returned—" Those seated pounded their fists into the dinner table in applause. Axel could guarantee that Marvin was a half-second late. "Furthermore, I shall rejoin my beloved goddess today! And we have new guests. Please, step forward and state your ancestry."

At the words _state your ancestry_ , Axel had to withhold a flinch. Santiago was debating on whether or not they were royal war prisoners. If there was one tradition Santiago did like to uphold, it was sacrificing royal war prisoners.

Hiro dragged Calex forward first. Although blurry eyed and leaning heavily on the tinier boy for support, he managed to raise his chin, seeming to realize this was something important. "I—I'm Calex Rupin McKenzie."

"And your parents?" Santiago patiently requested. His hands had settled back onto the top of his cane.

"I'm the son of Tiwa McKenzie and Eros," Calex stated.

Hiro rolled his eyes and exhaled dramatically, dragging Calex over to the table. He shoved Calex in front of the blue ice cream sundae, in the middle of the table.

Santiago grinned. "Welcome Calex, son of Eros and Tiwa."

Axel's muscles clenched. Santiago _was_ looking at them as war prisoners.

Hiro and Lapis brought the others forward one at a time, all with similar announcements, Santiago properly welcoming each of them with their parent's titles.

Merry still looked calm and disoriented, mumbling, "Maari Blythe, the bodacious daughter of Shreya Blythe and the God of Theater and Religious Ecstasy and not caring after 5:00."

There were giggles from the table behind them.

Euna seemed more inattentive as usual, glancing around, but not at the other members of Santiago's entourage. At the tables. "Uh—Euna Song, my dad's—"

"Gods, you're bad at this," Joey interrupted. She stood tall beside Euna, despite being several inches shorter. "We're daughters of Demeter and Song Hyun-Woo. I'm Song JooYeon."

Euna scowled at her little sister as Lapis directed them over to the table. Lapis chuckled. "You're cute Grass Hippie," she said.

Kally was pushed forward next. "I—um—Kalypso Kassand, daughter of… of… Lorna Kassand and Apollo."

Axel could hear the discomfort of announcing Apollo as her dad. Kally flinched when Santiago laughed.

"Kassand? As in Kassandra?" Santiago asked, his smile growing.

"Dad—" Pax pleaded.

"Quiet," Santiago whispered.

Pax silenced and paled.

"And a connection to Apollo…" Santiago mused. "Oh, my poor flower. You should ask Ajax the story of his namesake. Welcome Kaylpso Kassand, daughter of Apollo and Lorna." He motioned a hand towards the smaller table.

Kally glanced at Pax in alarm before Lapis sat her at the seat with cherry ice cream.

Santiago nodded and turned back to Axel, Pax, and Kouta. "Now, before we begin…" Santiago raised his eyebrows at Kouta. "You shot your brother."

"He started it," Kouta grumbled. "He bit me."

"Boys," Santiago said. There were some chuckles from the larger table. "How are we ever going to get a good Christmas photo with all these slings?" He gestured behind his throne. On the wall, Axel knew there was a family photo, one taken days after Santiago had captured them. In that photo, Axel's other arm was in a sling.

"Maybe we could all wear matching ones," Santiago joked.

"You celebrate Christmas?" Kally whispered. She must not have realized she had spoken aloud. She immediately went red and covered her mouth.

"We're Catholics, Red," Lapis said. "Among other things."

This appeared too much for Kally to process as she glanced around at their hedonistic alter in bafflement.

"Axel, Ajax, you may go sit with your friends for the ice cream social. I'll need Ajax's and someone else's assistance in a minute. Hiroyuki, Kouta, and Lapis, play nice with your brother's toys," Santiago said.

Axel wanted to snarl at him. Somewhere in him _knew_ that Santiago had hoped Axel would collapse during the conversation. The throbbing in his shoulder was now difficult to ignore, but Axel tried not to look too relieved at the thought of sitting down.

Axel's chocolate sundae was placed between Pax's and Lapis's seats, across from Calex. Hiro plopped down on Pax's other side, across from Euna. He dumped an oblong, striped beach towel between him and Euna. Axel sighed. He doubted Hiro even knew what Backbiter was.

Euna was already halfway through her ice cream. Axel had to admire her unwavering appetite, though he supposed they hadn't eaten in over a day. Her face had healed completely, earning some suspicious glances from Hiro. Every so many bites, she'd pause, shake her head, then resume eating.

Joey, across from Pax, frowned at her strawberry ice cream. "Uh, Mr. Pax? How did you know our favorite flavors?" she asked.

"Santiago is fine dear. Lapis and Hiroyuki have been following you since that River Styx incident. Hiroyuki was wise enough to take note of what kind of Kool-Aid you wanted at the blacksmith's shack, because he knows that food is the most important way to get to anyone's heart," he said.

Hiro winked at Joey. He raised his hands to sign but Pax quickly shoved them back down. Axel would have to thank Pax for that later.

 _Dumb_ didn't properly describe Axel's feelings. He should have _smelled_ Hiro and Lapis. He'd been so obsessed over getting Backbiter, he'd completely lost awareness of his surroundings. Xibalba, he'd even _trained_ Lapis how to stalk people and vehicles without being detected. His absentmindedness was pathetic.

"We've been paralleling each other for longer than either of us realized," Santiago continued. "I hope you've enjoyed all those quests we set up for you."

The seven of them stopped looking at—or eating in Euna's case—the ice cream to stare at Santiago.

"What was it that Atë said to you? About how gods can't mess with other Olympians, but heroes… heroes can go _anywhere_ ," Santiago's handsome smile grew to crinkle the wrinkles around his eyes. "Well, here are your heroes."

He nodded towards Lapis, Kouta, and Hiro. Hiro bowed as deep as he could from his seat. Lapis glared at Santiago, clearly already bored with whatever speech he had prepared. Kouta smirked and puffed his chest out as best he could with his injured shoulder.

"Huh," Merry murmured. That summarized the reaction from the group. Calex and Merry were too out of it to comment much further. Kally had gone pale. Joey glanced over to make eye contact with Euna, but Euna was considering her ice cream, still shaking her head every few seconds.

Axel slumped into his seat, trying to ignore the pain that shot through his shoulder and the exhaustion blurring his gaze. _Everything_? Their father had planned _everything?_

That couldn't be right—he knew Pax had gotten the original idea from—

"We were the ones who tricked Artemis and Apollo into hunting the Teumessian Fox, who set Athena and Poseidon against one another for a museum, who sent Hephaestus a fake postcard from his wife and her lover, who started an argument between Zeus and Hera, who released rats into Harmonia's [footnote 1] bed—"

"That had nothing to do with any of this," Lapis whispered to Axel. "He just hates Harmonia and wanted to flirt with Ajaxapax's mom"

"—and I personally knocked over the grains in Hemera's kitchen," Santiago finished with a crazed smile.

Joey's jaw dropped in irritation and she set her ice cream spoon back into the dish. She glared across the table at Pax, who looked near tears again. "Your big, evil father is a practical prankster?" She huffed the pink bangs out of her face. "Gods, you make SO much more sense now."

Santiago gave a heartfelt laugh. "Oh, my dear, it was for so much more than that. I needed some of the more attentive deities distracted. In particular, I needed Hemera focused on frivolous matters so I could set up a trap for that lovely, primordial Goddess of Day. What better a heart to eat than that of a goddess whose powers have weakened from lack of use, but are so raw and pure."

"You captured Hemera?" Kally asked. Her eyes widened and shot to the Golden Net on Lapis's shoulder. Axel wondered if Lapis could ever untangle from that.

Santiago shook his head at the net. "There is more than one way to capture a god, little flower. I gave her to Ajax's mother for safe keeping, but she'll return Hemera to me at sunrise."

"To… eat her heart?" she whispered.

Santiago's plot for ascension became clear to Axel. A lump formed in his stomach.

"There are two parts to this plan. A Greek one, and a more traditional one. My children have been gathering pieces of the first, to contribute to my empire's rise to fame." He gestured towards the larger table and the guests sitting there. Another gaggle of laughter erupted from the occupants.

Santiago stepped away from his throne to walk alongside the sputtering black fire. He walked slowly, purposefully. Axel knew it was partially to cover a slight limp in his left leg. Frasco said they'd been playing in the jungle as children and Santiago had fallen from a tree. Frasco had also told other renditions of the story where Santiago had been cursed by an ancient stone "for being a coatimundi's butt." [footnote 2]

"I spent my childhood in poverty—" Santiago began.

"Ah-Puch save us," Lapis grumbled. [footnote 3] Hiro rolled his eyes and Kouta slumped back into his seat. Pax sat up in excitement.

"This is it," Pax whispered.

"—and struggled to build up my own company, a pharmaceutical distribution company, something respectable by title and power. We help people. We happen to provide trazodone, alprazolam, lorazepam, diazepam, and clonazeplam-among others—to hundreds of thousands of troubled individuals around the world."

Across from Axel, Calex frowned in confusion. "Antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds," Calex murmured.

"Very good, Mr. McKenzie," Santiago said. He tapped his cane against the stone floor. "It's why Hiroyuki had ready access to what you ingested."

Calex shook his head. Axel could tell from the strained look on Calex's face that he was trying to keep focus; he knew something was wrong but couldn't fight the effects of the drug. "B—But Mandrax isn't legal—" he said. [footnote 4]

"Not in every part of the world," Santiago agreed. "But we provide to many countries. How do you know so much?"

"My mum is a nurse..." Calex trailed off, but kept eye contact with Santiago. Axel clenched his jaw. After Nilley had died, it took Axel _months_ to refer to her in the past tense. In Calex's current state, he had to wonder if his friend even remembered his mother was dead.

"Ah, an excellent occupation for Tiwa. She'll be able to witness first hand what's about to happen over the next few days," Santiago said. He paced closer to their group, standing alongside the pithos alter. "We've been crafting a new drug to replace those drugs. This one will take maybe… 24—36 hours to take effect. We wanted the delay. This will function closer to amphetamines, lysergic acid, or phencyclidline, to increase paranoia, agitation, disassociation, and aggression."

Calex's frown deepened. "Those are… really bad drugs. That's… that's PCP and LSD. That's going to make—"

"—a lot of very vulnerable people violently aggressive and paranoid," Santiago finished. He smiled at the pithos. " But that wasn't quite enough for me. That would only make them _feel_ invulnerable. I wanted to give people who took my drug temporary godly invulnerability while having something burn them on the inside, to give them more reason to murder those around them."

"So you're using water from the River Styx?" Kally asked. She looked queasy. Axel wondered how many of her friends were on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. "Won't that… kill mortals?"

Santiago shrugged. "We've been testing it. A small enough doses boiled into the medication—" He waved his hand to the boiling black fire. "—unlikely. You must understand, little flower, Dionysus ascended because he made something wonderful out of the blood of a dying friend. Then he made a cult to follow it. He moved the masses with madness. I plan to follow in his footsteps."

Merry opened her mouth. Axel was glad Kally immediately put a hand over it to muffle her.

"That's the Greek part of the plan. I already have my worshipers. The first shipment of the improved medication goes out in the morning once this is done brewing," Santiago continued with a small smile at the two them. "According to more standard traditions, the second part of my plan involves my little Discordian followers giving me a sacrifice at dawn: Hemera. And then I'm going to eat her heart. And you brought me the blade to make a godly sacrifice possible." He gestured towards the towel between Hiro and Euna.

Pax shuddered and whispered, "Dear Python. Take note: this is how you do a good evil monologue… albeit with an overtly complicated plot."

Axel could tell Pax's little moment of bravado was an act. Tears were rimming his eyes.

"So… so Mom set us up?" Pax blubbered. "Sh—she told us to get the sword and Golden Net to come after you. She—she—" Pax gulped like this was the worst part. "—makes plans!"

Santiago chuckled and made a motion to the table behind them. Winry and the man from before must have reentered. They stood behind Axel and Hiro. Axel wished he could think clearly. Between having Winry behind him and the muzzle strapped across his mouth, he felt more trapped.

"No, Ajax. Your mother never picks sides," Santiago said with a smile. "She gave us the same amount of information. She told us to go after the same things. I'll bet she even let you spy on one of my conversations with her, just like she let me spy on one of her conversations with you."

Pax shrugged sheepishly, glancing between Winry and the other man. Winry gave him a comforting wink.

"Your mother just puts bombs on the field and giggles as they go off. I recognized what she was doing before you did, though I didn't know you'd be trying to bring order to the gods. It does explain what she was talking about when she said she gave you high ratings and hot peppers on . It must have been to keep you busy."

That took a moment to sink in, but even Axel had to grumble, "Augh," at the thought of Pax's mom giving him hot bars. He could picture Hemera scrolling through some weird god website with pictures of him and his brother doing acrobatics. AND Hephaestus probably had done the same thing, furious to see Aphrodite had upvoted them.

"She'll be here at dawn to deliver Hemera to my worshipers and celebrate with us," Santiago said. "You can ask her then. You see, we used something else to capture Hemera and handed the goddess over for safe keeping. That way, when my Queen gets here, I can invite her to take me as her official consort."

Santiago tenderly stroked the pithos. Since it was just a pithos, it treated the caress with indifference. Santiago shrugged and turned back to face them. "If she refuses, I'll capture her with the Golden Net, kill her with the blade, and take her place as a God of Turmoil."

"Dad!" Pax cried.

Santiago put a hand up for silence. "You'll understand when you're older, son. Love does funny things to you."

Joey folded her arms and glared over at Pax and Axel. She mouthed the words, _What is wrong with your family?_

Hiro put his thumbs out, crossed his hands overtop each other, flattened them so they were palm up, and uncrossed them. The ASL symbol for: _everything_.

After the evening's events, Axel couldn't really contradict the assessment.

"So, you get the gist. Distribute the new drug to the unwary, eat a primordial goddess's heart, marry my Queen, and ascend as a god myself. An excellent dinner show for all of you," Santiago said. He lowered his hand to place both hands overtop the cane. "Dionysus had one last ingredient that I'm missing, but instead of a satyr's blood… I think I want a few drops of something a little more chaotic."

As he said it, the color drained out of Pax's face. Winry and the other man grabbed either of his arms and flipped his chair as they picked him up.

"¡ _Ay! ¡No otra ves_!" Pax screamed and kicked. His combat boot nailed the ice cream dish, splattering the Reese's sundae all over Joey _. "¡No Papá! ¡Basta!" [footnote 5]_

Axel tried to stand up and almost blacked out. He collapsed back into his chair, feeling Kouta's fingers grip his bullet wound. The room went white temporarily as Axel struggled to maintain consciousness.

"He's just being a baby," Kouta snarled.

Axel didn't care. This was a mockery of their heritage and an insult to their gods.

When Axel could steady his breathing enough to focus, he could see Santiago had pulled something off his neck. It was an honorary necklace, a string of obsidian thorns. He withdrew a scroll of parchment from his vest and dropped it at his feet.

Winry and the other lackey struggled to drag Pax in front of their father. Once Pax was level with Santiago, he went still, legs dangling uselessly above the floor.

Kally's hand had slipped under the table, likely into her messenger bag. She breathed heavily, but glanced at Axel for affirmation to attack.

Joey scowled at Hiro, who tapped on the table with a dart. Euna shook her head, seeming as unaware of the situation as Merry or Calex.

Santiago slammed his cane into a crack in the floor so it could free stand. He leisurely took off his jacket to hang it on the cane and carefully rolled each sleeve up past his elbows. Once done, he straightened his posture and smiled.

Pax stared at him in silent terror.

"Ajax," Santiago cooed, brushing his son's cheek with a finger. "Stick out your tongue."

"Don't you usually tell me _not_ to stick out my tongue? It's rude and—"

"Ajax, I only do this because I love you," Santiago assured him with that calming, charming smile.

Pax choked back a sob. "If this is love, I don't want to be loved—!" Pax's shout blurred to incoherent whimpers as Santiago pinched Pax's mouth open.

 _Autosacrifice_. Axel remembered the first time Frasco taught the Pax children to use their birth right of Mopan royalty. Frasco used it for cheap circus tricks to make people laugh. He'd given them red Kool-Aid to practice with. Axel had used it in Kronos's army, to become the monster of the Labyrinth with Hecate's help. Most properly, it was supposed to be used to call upon the Vision Serpent. But it had to be done to oneself, hence auto, and it had to be willing.

This was heresy.

Although Axel couldn't see Santiago's fingers at work, he could hear Pax squeal as Santiago pulled the string of thorns through Pax's tongue. He could hear drops of Pax's blood as they dripped off Santiago's elbows onto the piece of parchment. He could see Kally's hand go over her mouth in horror and how Joey recoiled with a, "Augh!"

Pax's boots squeaked as the tips barely touched the surface of the floor. He writhed.

Axel shook his head at Joey and Kally. They couldn't do anything.

But Joey Song didn't listen. She stood up. "Stop!" she snapped. "That's…. disgusting. And Kally is eating _red_ ice cream and you _shouldn't_ hurt your son like that!"

Hiro glanced at their father, waiting for an order to dart her. Lapis sighed. "Well, if that isn't an understatement. You should see what happens to us when we forget to take out the trash," she grumbled.

Santiago pulled the last thorn through without any indication of hearing Joey. Once done, he hummed softly, picking the parchment off the ground. Just as methodic as how he'd rolled up his sleeves, he wiped as much of the blood on his hands and arms onto the parchment as possible. Then he dabbed up the blood sputtering down Pax's chin.

Pax coughed, spitting red speckles on Santiago's grey shirt. He tried to sob, but this only made him cough more.

"Thank you, Ajax," Santiago said with genuine gratitude. He kissed Pax's forehead—a gesture he only did when he was _very_ proud—and motioned him away.

Winry and the lackey carried Pax back to his seat. Blood still streamed down his chin. The lackey released him and righted Pax's chair. As soon as they sat him in his seat, Pax curled into a ball and leaned into Axel's shoulder.

Axel didn't even have the strength to wrap an arm around his shoulder. Instead, he leaned his head down on top of Pax's, furious with himself. He'd _promised_ Pax this would never happen again.

Without waiting for permission, Kally stumbled to her feet and dashed around the table. She'd already withdrawn a small med kit from her messenger bag. Axel could have kissed her for how she took Pax's hand, hugged him, then scrambled to grab the right medical supplies.

While Kally tended to Pax's tongue, Joey hadn't sat down. She stood there, scowling at Santiago. Axel hoped Euna would reprimand her, but Euna had her head in her hands, muttering to herself. Axel wanted to shout at Joey that she needed to stand down. Now _was not_ the time.

But Santiago was already turning his attention to her. He gave her a roguish smile. Instead of putting his jacket back on, he slung it over one shoulder and picked up his cane. He calmly answered, "Miss Song, my son has the most powerful blood out of any of us. I've almost ascended to godhood before, it was right when I met my dear Mistress of Chaos. And that's when Pax was born, more god than mortal. So his blood will make the most powerful sacrifice. Plus, by using his blood, it will increase his chances of godhood later."

She snorted. "Oh, because _your_ blood is too weak? And _you're_ too much of a coward to do…" She gestured vaguely at him. "Do…. Gross stuff with your tongue? You assault a—a puppy."

Although Pax couldn't get the words out with his injured tongue and Kally's fingers in his mouth, Axel knew his whines were meant to say, _I am small but mighty!_

Santiago laughed.

The members at the table behind them all went, "oooooOOOOOoooo."

Axel could hear Marvin mutter, "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Axel tried to clear his throat to tell Joey to sit down, but his voice came out like a whisper. His body wouldn't react like he wanted it to—he'd pushed too hard. Now, he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I said I would require an assistant Miss JooYeon Song. Would you like to volunteer?" Santiago asked and motioned to his side. "It's the most rewarding position in the temple. "

"An _assistant_?" Joey snapped. She stormed around the table and towards Santiago. Her hand jammed into her pocket. Axel had an exhausted moment of hope. Had she snuck some walnuts into her pocket? Had Santiago accidentally armed some of his prisoners?

Maybe Joey could escape through the top of the temple. He hadn't thought about it—but she could make a tree. How would they get everyone out though? Something was clearly wrong with Euna, Pax was demoralized, and there was no way Kally could take Calex and Merry up a tree on her own.

Once Joey leveled with Santiago to stand between the pithos and the fire, Santiago chuckled again. "You remind me of my late Haruko," he said.

Hiro flinched at the first name of his mother.

Although Axel couldn't see Joey's face, he could see her shoulders go rigid. He could envision her snarl now of, _I'm Korean, not Japanese, you blind jerk._

Santiago lifted the hand holding the cane and reddened rag, offering out the piece of parchment soaked in blood. "My plans culminate on this, my darling. What would you say if I left its fate up to you."

Axel could see what Santiago was doing. He'd done this to Axel multiple times before. But Joey was younger than Axel and hadn't dealt with this kind of manipulation. She took the bait.

Joey snatched the paper and tossed it into the boiling black flames beside her.

Exactly where Santiago had hoped.

As soon as the Royal Mopan blood touched the blaze, it sputtered a brilliant turquoise, casting a cooling hue around the entire throne room. The torches that lined the walls popped and crackled, puffing into darkness. The pressure dropped in the room and Axel could feel his ears pop.

Joey had been pulling something round from her pocket, but, as the flames exploded beside her, she screamed and flinched.

Santiago chuckled and released his jacket. It fluttered to the floor. He snatched her hand, withdrawing the walnuts therein.

Joey didn't look at him. She gawked at the flames. _The monster from her nightmares that had been plaguing her for months._

Axel tried to shout at her to run, but his voice still wouldn't work. It took all of his strength to keep his head in position to see what was happening. _The most rewarding position in the temple_. Axel felt stupid for missing it. There were two ways to go straight to paradise and Santiago had meant that as the reward.

"It's almost perfect, isn't it JooYeon?" Santiago laughed, marveling at the boiling mix of the River Styx, drugs, and Pax family blood. "But I think it's missing something."

Something in his voice broke Joey's paralysis. Her wide eyes met his and he released his cane to take both of her hands. Santiago's roguish grin widened. He leaned down to her ear. Even with Axel's ears straining, he could barely hear his father's enticing whisper over the roar of the flames, " _It needs more… body_."

Joey tried to wrench back. She went to kick Santiago in the smartest place she could, but he'd anticipated her move. As soon as she went off balance to attack him, he shoved her backwards into the flames. [footnote 6]

* * *

Thank you all for reading! One more chapter to go! :D

Songs that were important to this chapter:

Blumenkraz-I prefer the English cover by Sapphire (whose translations I borrowed)

Get Scared-Sarcasm. This is pretty much Pax's theme song for his life, but this book in particular.

* * *

Footnotes:

1 Goddess of Harmony and Concord. NOT Hemera, the primordial goddess of day. Two different goddesses.

2 These are Coatimundi. . Now you have another cute animal to "aw" at ^.^

3 A Mayan god of death (among other things…)

4 Methaqualone. Also known as White Pipe. To be far, it's stronger than how I'm portraying it. Merry and Calex should be falling over more often. (Also, it isn't an antidepressant. It was originally marketed as a sleep aid before they realized it was dangerous.)

5 Translation: "Not again! No Dad—Stop/Enough!"

6 Sooooo, in the original version of this story, Joey's heart was cut out in old school Mayan fashion as you would with a noble sacrifice. I thought that might have been *ehem* a little too violent for this book… so…. Ta-da! Homage to a great movie instead.


	33. Euna: Growth by Death and Death by

Thirty-Three: Euna

Growth by Death and Death by Growth

(or: A Jaw Dropping Conclusion)

Warning: This chapter is why this book has a _Graphic Depictions of Violence_ warning. Proceed with caution.

* * *

There was too much noise. Euna could hear every domesticated plant within at least a mile: the ones under-watered, the ones diseased, the ones with parasites, the ones calling for more sunlight or less. Some cried for Demeter to return to the land, to give up this grudge against Hades and make it spring. Others were excited for winter's nap. She could hear the prayers and wishes and despairs of every farmer, every gardener, and every fifteen-year-old cursing their duty to mow the lawn.

The energy surging around her felt unwelcoming. Euna's body wanted to disperse into the ground to get away. Somehow, she knew she _could_ and it took all her willpower to keep pieced together, else she'd melt like one of those creepy, old-school claymation videos.

Euna couldn't focus on the room around her until she heard her sister's scream.

Everything came into heightened awareness.

The turquoise flames exploded towards the ceiling.

Santiago roared in elation, "Now—now _that_ is perfect."

Pax sobbed hysterically in his chair as Kouta tried to restrain Kally. She'd shot to her feet and fumbled with her Argonaut statue, but Kouta had gone for one of his guns. Before he could withdraw, Kally had punched him in the shoulder wound three times and kneed him in the groin twice, shouting very uncharacteristically vulgar remarks.

Axel sat up only to slump back into his chair, eyes fluttered closed. Merry covered her ears and crushed her eyes shut. Calex also tried to stand but crumbled to the floor.

When Lapis conjured her Egyptian axe out of the air, Pax finally managed to move. Although he didn't withdraw his daggers, he stood between Lapis and Kally, shoving Lapis backwards.

During all of this, Santiago stood at the edge of the twisting fire pit, laughing cheerfully. He rolled two walnuts in his hand, cracked them, ingested their hearts with a grin, and discarded the shells into the flames like he had with Euna's sister.

The fire snaked around Joey, changing her screams to choked garbles, to silence. Euna couldn't tell if Joey had ever been standing there. Like the other morning, in their backyard with the Huntresses of Artemis, how the hydra's acid snuffed out the life of the apple tree, wiping away years of memories, smiles, and care, the turquoise flames wicked away JooYeon Song.

The people at the table behind them were _laughing_ at all of this. Santiago was _laughing_.

Euna could remember what Persephone had said, " _What happens to our little sister will not be your fault… a rising god_ will _kill her._ "

Euna stood.

Across from her, Hiro had been trying to get a clean shot at Kally or Pax—difficult since Kally was _wrecking_ Kouta. At Euna's movement, he turned towards her.

Before he could redirect his dart, she threw her empty ice cream bowl at him. The bowl smashed into his diaphragm, knocking him backwards and onto the ground. Hiro gasped for air, gawking at her from the floor.

Euna grabbed the closest item she could for a weapon: the stupid beach towel. There was something sturdy under it, though—knowing her luck—she'd unsheathe it only to fight Santiago with a roll of bubble wrap.

Instead, when she tore the material away, Euna felt cool metal sharpen her awareness. The blade was a Greek sword. Under her touch, the edge morphed and expanded into something far more comfortable: a militarized scythe.

 _Hello, spawn of the Sickle Wielder_ , a chilling voice cooed.

"Shut up," Euna muttered. There was too much talking. She didn't need inanimate objects chatting along with all the plants and gardeners.

The blade's transformation caught Santiago's attention. He quieted his laughter by coughing into his hand. He grinned at her and nodded to the flames. "You shouldn't have flipped my son's van," he said.

 _His van_?! Euna stared at him for a moment before her lips parted slightly.

All that was between she and Santiago was the oak, ice cream social table. Euna shoved it with the palm of her hand.

The entire table skid out of her way, slamming into the Pax children and Kally. Those standing were thrown down beside Hiro. Axel released a strangled cry when the table pinned him against his seat and jammed him and his chair a foot backwards.

The room went silent as Euna approached Santiago. Even the cackles from the other guests hushed.

She glanced at the fire. There was no trace of her sister. Somehow, Euna knew—even if she extinguished the flame—there would be nothing left of JooYeon Song.

The scythe felt hot and eager. Euna rolled her fingers along the familiar cross between a weapon and a farm tool.

Santiago's expression had become quizzical as he examined her from head to toe. "Why, my lovely dear, what have you hidden here—"

Euna didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. She swept the scythe at him. Her reach was longer. She should be able to slice him to pieces and give Pax his father's tongue as a consolation prize.

But Santiago dashed his cane against her blade.

She used the momentum to redirect for a second strike.

He blocked her again.

He was _faster_ than she was.

"I can tell you have the strength of a goddess, Euna Song," Santiago said through that _stupid_ grin, "but you think too much like a mortal to use it. I hope you relish the fact that you could have saved your sister had you known the true value of such power."

Santiago attacked her. His weapons may have been shorter, but his cane was easier to wield in the tight space between the table, the throne, and the fire. Euna grit her teeth as she found herself retreating under a battering of cane strikes. As soon as she parried to defend, his cane would snap around to hit her other side. She couldn't keep up. He _was_ a more experienced fighter than she was. And he'd rounded her back towards the howling flames of the pit.

 _I can help_ , the scythe whispered.

"I told you to SHUT UP!" Euna roared.

Santiago caught the crook of the scythe with his cane and twisted it down so the weapons were locked between them. He leaned in, using his height to push Euna down and back. She could feel the heat radiating behind her. The fire pit must have been directly at her back.

Euna grunted as she planted her feet on the edge.

"What's the matter, lovely dear?" he hissed through a clenched jaw. Until then, Euna hadn't noticed the wind tunnel spewing down from the ceiling, twisting around them, kicking up dust and ash. Despite how the flames raged towards the dome, casting that eerie light over the whole throne room, the temperature felt cold, colder than California should ever feel.

"Look at this beautiful mess you've made. I don't have to sacrifice you too, not the same way I killed your sister," he said. The flicker of fire reflected in his dark eyes. They sank down to examine Euna's lips before rising back to her eyes. "I can teach you so much. I'll still eat your heart…"

Euna wanted to scream in frustration when Santiago released one of the hands bracing his cane. Although the muscles in his other arm strained, he had no problem holding her at bay as he reached to touch her face.

"But I won't have to physically cut it out. Let me show you what power you have. Put down—"

He got too close.

Euna snapped her head forward and head-butted him.

Santiago hissed in anger. She'd hoped he'd lose his footing. Instead, his hand altered its route and clenched her neck.

Something gold and hissing spun in the corner of Euna's eyes.

A golden discus caught his shoulder and knocked Santiago back.

The blow made him lose his grip. While he was still off balance, Euna slammed her body weight upward. As soon as Santiago's cane slid off her scythe, she kicked at the side of his knee. If she injured him enough, maybe she'd gain enough time to swing the scythe in a full arch.

Santiago's knee snapped in the wrong direction. He howled. In a blur of motion, he retreated. Before she could slice him, Santiago slammed his cane into her stomach.

They both staggered back, Euna carefully avoiding the fire.

She righted herself, gasping for air.

The wind tunnel around them died to a gentle breeze.

Across from her, Santiago chuckled. She'd take a pop quiz every day at 4:30 in the morning for the rest of her life if she never had to hear that laugh again. She'd probably fail all of them, but she'd do it.

He knocked his leg with his cane. The likely torn ligament made a sick _squish_ sound before clicking back into place. He stretched out his leg experimentally. "Oh my lovely dear, how silly would I look with _two_ gimp knees?" he asked.

Euna wanted to assure him: she could envision a legless Santiago exceptionally well.

She could sense two people take a stand on either side of her. Tightening her grip on the scythe, she considered the best, quickest way to decapitate whichever henchmen they were. Then she registered the strawberry blond knot of Kally's hair on her left.

Kally was breathing heavily, miserably bruised, and hefting Lapis's Egyptian battle axe. She looked scared, but ready to take out Santiago's other knee if Euna called a, "one, two, _three!_ " to make him fully crippled.

On her other side, Pax stood with his two daggers drawn. Blood still dribbled from his lips and was smeared all over his chin and burgundy shirt. He trembled so violently, Euna wanted to tell him to sit down and leave it to the girls.

He tried to say something inspiring, choked, and stomped his foot in frustration. He mumbled something like, "Augh! R ran't e'en make sarastic remark!" This seemed to distress him more than the hole in his tongue. [footnote 1]

But Euna knew Pax and Kally would just get hurt if they attacked as a group. Santiago must have been strong enough to control Axel when he was younger, and Axel could definitely destroy any of them. She tried to think of any advantageous elements that she was missing, but Joey was better at remembering things like that, like these worthless god droplets.

Whenever they went to fighting tournaments, Joey used to get so mad at Euna when she missed an "obvious" strategy against an opponent. That was how she'd always support Euna. _Augh, you'd win the next bout if you'd just [insert strategy here] you idiot,_ and Euna always did, after Joey gave some scathing advice.

As they stood there, the whispers, prayers, and whines from plants and humans off in the distance encroached on Euna's concentration. Then came the jeering. Santiago was saying something to Pax. The words made Pax seize up in terror. The table behind them burst into taunts and teases. Pax was shaking his head, babbling about how Santiago can't hurt Kally.

They couldn't take Santiago in hand-to-hand combat. With the way he could let go of his cane to touch her face—he'd been playing with her. Maybe she'd taken Hemera's drops, but Santiago was right, _you think too much like a mortal to use it_.

Everything was getting too loud. Euna tried to focus to drown out all the noise. That's when the scythe's hiss cut through the others, _You have the power of a goddess. Harness it._

"There aren't any plants in this room," Euna snarled and shook her head.

 _Don't be a fool._

"Shut up," she muttered.

 _This is why your sister died_.

As the scythe whispered, it was like time rewound and she could hear Joey's scream all over again, ringing over the rambling of the plants and Pax's incoherent protests. One thing stayed the same between the present and the audio flashback: the laughter. Santiago and his guests howled in glee, _exactly_ as they had before.

"SHUT UP!" Euna screamed.

Everything went quiet: the plants, the guests, Pax, Santiago, even the little bit of wind left.

With the silence, she could hear the faintest calling from something in the room, something very delicate, fragile, and small. Something she'd have to piece back together, in a way she couldn't piece together Joey's ashes.

Without realizing it, Santiago had given her a _very_ deadly weapon. As she felt around with her mind, she realized that she could destroy this whole temple if she wanted to. But she didn't care about the temple. She just wanted to destroy Santiago and his family.

With barely a breath of effort on her part, she helped all the seeds in the room do what they were most eager to do: she helped them grow.

Santiago stopped laughing. For the first time that night, his expression grew tense. He clutched at his stomach. That dumb grin crumbled into a scowl. "Euna Song…" he growled and spasmed once.

"Euna..?" Kally asked quietly beside her.

Euna ignored her.

The wind picked back up in an uncomfortable gust around the throne room.

Behind them, someone muttered, "I don't feel so well…"

Another threw up.

The guests began to shriek in pain.

Kally turned around and gasped, dropping Lapis's blade. It clattered onto the stone.

Pax dropped his daggers and grabbed Euna's arm to shake it. Although she knew he was begging her to stop, all he could manage to say was, "Hop! Hop! Hop! My rother rate om. Hop!"[footnote 2]

Behind her, chairs toppled over. Bones snapped. Skin and clothing ripped. Those who could still scream did so into the increasing swirl of icy wind.

At least Euna knew she'd never hear their laughter again.

Santiago coughed up blood. In the turquoise gleam of the fire, Euna couldn't tell what color it was. Whatever the color of an almost-Mayan-Greek-god would be. He snarled while he wiped the liquid onto the back of his hand. Those dark eyes blazed as he adjusted his grip on his cane. He glanced over her shoulder, and she was pretty sure he could see what she'd just done to his son, Kouta.

She hoped he had cared about Kouta.

"I'm going to eat your heart and that of all of your friends," Santiago growled. He took a step towards her.

Euna lifted the scythe into the air.

Leaves erupted from Santiago's mouth. He gasped, choked, and tore them from his lips. Santiago tried to mutter something, probably in Mayan. She wasn't going to give him the chance to use whatever magic he had or to get away.

Euna slammed the scythe onto the floor. As she did, a walnut sapling burst from Santiago's mouth. Its branches punched through his button down shirt, spraying liquid across the room. Although the tree exploded upward too quickly, she knew it had ripped his jaw clean off. Santiago's body collapsed onto the ground, though she couldn't tell if that happened before or after the roots tore through his dress pants.

The branches didn't stop growing until they touched the ceiling and until the trunk was at least a foot in diameter, enough to crush any man.

There wasn't much left of him, but she had to be sure. That would eviscerate a mortal, but Santiago had claimed he wasn't mortal. Quietly, Euna approached. _I'm sorry_ , she thought to the walnut tree.

With a quick slice of the scythe, she cut the tree at the base. The top collapsed to the side, crashing into the flames. The branches snuffed out the fire.

All was quiet and serene in the forest that she'd created.

Euna felt a little lightheaded. She'd passed out after making two walnuts trees when they fought Python. This time, she'd made seventeen.

Pax had collapsed onto his knees beside her, staring at the fallen tree.

Kally stood at her other side, frozen in shock.

"Kouta?" someone choked out behind her. "Hey… Big Guns…"

Euna turned. There were sixteen full trees. Thirteen crowded around the larger table at the back of the room, creating a dense canopy to blot out the ceiling. Fortunately, Merry and Calex were situated far enough away from the table that they hadn't been injured. They were unconscious, Calex on the floor and Merry in a chair.

Two more trees were on the other side of the table—presumably the two body guards that had grabbed Pax.

Axel sat where she'd left him, pinned between the ice cream social table and his seat. She couldn't tell if he was awake, but his head was angled towards a surprising sight.

One tree stood apart from the rest, beside Axel and between Lapis and Hiro.

Lapis knelt beside the trunk and touched it with a trembling hand. She pressed her lips together. [footnote 3]

Hiro sat at the base of the tree, gathering the shreds of Kouta's bloody shirt, pants and gun holster, like Euna had kicked over pieces of his favorite Lego building. He found Kouta's two revolvers and jammed them into his belt.

Both of them were speckled with their eldest brother's blood.

Euna had assumed they'd also eaten some of the walnuts left out on the table. Frowning, she hefted up the scythe and walked towards them.

Hiro let out a squeal.

Lapis whirled to face her. She shoved Hiro behind her with her good arm and backed them towards Axel. "Back off Grass Hipp—" Lapis seemed to realize the name _Grass Hippie_ wasn't appropriate anymore.

In a flash, Hiro fumbled in his vest, withdrawing something. He sprinkled some kind of dust in a rapid circle around he and Lapis, set a small slip of white paper on the ground, and clapped.

Euna didn't care. That little protection bubble would probably shatter under her scythe. Even if that didn't work, she was sure she could crush the barrier if she dropped enough trees on top of it.

Euna lifted her weapon.

Kally stumbled into Euna's way. She took hold of Euna's hands and struggled to push them down. Tears streaked down Kally's milky white cheeks. Her green eyes were bloodshot from crying.

Until then, Euna didn't realize that she, herself, hadn't been crying. After Persephone's warning about Joey's death, Euna had done everything she could think of to keep Joey out of danger: she hadn't wanted to go back to Camp Half-Blood, she hadn't wanted to take any quests, she didn't wanted them to attract any attention that would make them seem extraordinary, she'd been beaten by Kouta in a vain attempt at escape.

Just when Euna decided she'd make Joey proud, that they could relax, they'd been captured. For some reason, Euna thought she'd cry more. Instead, she just felt numb and cold. The room, itself, felt cold.

"Euna—you—you did it. You got the big bad guy. You can stop now," Kally said, her voice trembling as much as her fingers. When Euna didn't move, Kally wrapped her arms around Euna in a tight hug. "I—I'm so sorry Euna. I'm sorry we couldn't help her. But you need to stop now."

Kally's tears rubbed into Euna's cheek. She stared at Lapis and Hiro through Kally's mess of reddish hair.

Had Hiro and Lapis not helped Kouta capture them, their group could have ran back to camp. And Joey could have lived.

"Kally, move," Euna said. The lightheadedness was getting worse. Euna could tell whatever god powers she had were failing. She didn't have much time to finish this.

Kally shook her head.

Clapping erupted beside them.

Euna frowned. She had no idea why Pax would be clapping.

Kally released Euna as they glanced to the side. A woman sat atop the pithos alter with the pithos in her lap. She had black hair, quarter shaved on one side. The other side was long, and twisted wildly out of an attempted Greek plait. She wore a tight T-shirt that read _Anarchists Unite_ , torn up black jeans, a lot of jangling, unmatched jewelry, dark eyeliner, and black stilettos. In the belt around her waist, there were grenades, detonators, and… a glass jar with a golden apple. Her eyes gleamed fiercely and she grinned in a way Euna imagined a serial killer would.

There were tears streaming down her cheeks, making her eyeliner streak. She rubbed them off onto the backs of her fishnet and leather gloves.

"Oh myself," [footnote 4] she sniffed. "This is so beautiful. I feel like it's the Civil War between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood again."

"Mmm!" Pax cried from the ground. He started to crawl towards her.

The woman hopped off the alter, her heels clicking loudly. She dropped the pithos so it shattered, scattering shards everywhere. She dashed to Pax's side and whisked him into her arms, giggling and kissing his forehead. "Hello my Little Terror Muffin. Oh my! Now what has Santiago done with your tongue! My poor baby. Do you want some more ice cream to cool your wound? I can't believe Santiago was negligent enough to let your ice cream melt!"

She was tall and strong enough to cradle Pax with a single arm. She used the other hand to lick her fingers and rub the dried blood off Pax's chin.

Euna and Kally glanced at each other. Neither was surprised. After the events of the night, Euna was too exhausted and emotionally numb to care who this was.

Whatever the woman did must have fixed Pax's tongue. He choked back a sob while whining, "M—Mom, D—D—Dad's dead, and K—Kouta's dead—Joey—and—and you set us up—"

"Shush," she cooed softly. "I taught you better than to slander to someone's face. Always behind their back." As she spoke, she ruffled what little order was left to Pax's jelled hair so it twisted wildly like hers.

"I said I would do what I could to keep the family together. I did that and am doing that. And you and Axel asked for a way to stop your father. I provided everything you needed. I—" She broke down into giggles. They reminded Euna of the repeated gurgle of the Joker. "I—shockingly—had little to do with this."

Pax sniffled. "How—how are you laughing? I—I thought you l—l—loved Dad."

Upon considering what Santiago had said earlier to Pax, _I only do this because I love you_ , Euna thought she might want to pull up the dictionary definition for Pax after all of this was over.

The woman bapped Pax's nose with a finger. "Oh, I do, but Santiago and my little Discordians would not have wanted to go out _any_ other. This was _lovely_."

Kally cleared her throat. "Who in Hades are you?" she demanded, more aggressive than Euna had ever heard her before.

The woman glanced up at Kally and Euna. That smile was savage. Euna had to wonder if this person even saw them as human.

"Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I should have introduced myself and my friends." At _my friends,_ Kally glanced around. Euna darted her eyes about the room, but didn't see anyone other than their group, the remaining Pax family, and the trees. She tightened her hold on her scythe.

"I'm not invited to parties very often so I tend to forget proper social protocol. I'm Eris, the Goddess of Chaos, Discord, and Strife. This is my daughter, Atë…"

At another snap of Eris's fingers, a girl appeared in a swirl of smoke, lounging on Santiago's fallen tree trunk. She kicked her legs back and forth like this was the perfect spot for a picnic. She had short, multicolored hair and wore punk style clothing, similar to her mother. She curled her fingers at Kally, either in a gesture of greeting, or maybe some failed attempt at telekinesis to drag Kally closer.

"Kally, I believe you two have already met," Eris asked.

"Being a doormat. That might be her fatal flaw," Atë affirmed with a smile.

Kally scowled.

"You've already met my nephew, Phobetor—"

As she said it, Euna felt everything waver, like the world blinked instead of her.

A faceless, humanoid monster appeared behind Eris, wearing nothing but a pink and blue bowtie. He huffed and fixed his bowtie.

"And I'm sure Melinoë is off terrorizing and doting on some mortals," Eris said as she walked past Kally and Euna. Her jewelry jingled and stilettos clanked. Euna traced her movements with the scythe. "And it would probably get a bit stuffy if we physically conjured Python here but she doesn't need to be present for me to pick up all the orphans in the room."

She paused in front of Lapis and Hiro's protection bubble. She offered her spare hand out to Lapis. "Come along my little cuties. We're going to wreak havoc on the land, make the sun set, and probably attack Camp Half-Blood if Phobetor doesn't have a severe bout of conscilepsy and fall awake at an inconvenient time."

"It's a debilitating disease," Phobetor huffed.

Lapis hesitated. She clutched Hiro's arm, frowning. Her eyes darted to Axel.

"Don't worry—I'll drag him along for the ride too!" Eris giggled. She wrapped her free hand around the collar of Axel's shirt and lifted him out of the chair. Axel groaned in pain as she hefted him up as though by a kitten's neck scruff.

Pax mumbled a protest.

Eris shrugged to Lapis and Hiro. "Unless you want the young killer who murdered your dad and brother to finish the job." She gestured with Axel's body towards Euna. Axel's feet slide across the ground and he whined.

Euna wondered if there _was_ a good way to get Eris away from Pax and Axel. The calls of the plants and prayers of agriculturalists had quieted. The room temperature had gone back to that of a chilly California night, not the icy howl from when she fought Santiago. Her legs felt weak. She realized she might not have enough energy to wield the scythe properly, let alone use the trees to fight.

Kally snatched Lapis's battle axe from the ground. "Put them down," she snapped.

Atë, Phobetor, and Eris all gave heartfelt laughs.

Atë gave her a sly smile. "Why? So Axel can kidnap the Oracle again? So he can threaten to kill you when you get in his way? You're fun. I love people who don't learn."

Kally's lips quivered, but she didn't lower the battle axe.

"We're not coming with you," Pax whispered and squirmed in his mother's grasp. "Your… your ideas only ever hurt people. You told us to go to Camp Othrys. You told us to get the Golden Net and Backbiter and come here."

"But of course I told you to get those things. You're my little champion, Ajax. Who else could sneak into the gods' throne room to get coals out of Hestia's fire? Especially with them so jumpy after that Luke-lightning bolt incident. And who else had the connections and leverage to get the Golden Net from Bunker Nine?" She leaned down to nuzzle her nose against Pax's.

He wretched away from her touch and wormed out of her grip. Once his feet landed, he wrapped his arms around Axel's stomach to pull him away from Eris.

"You only needed them for yourself," Pax choked out. When Eris released Axel, Pax stumbled to hold his brother up.

"Well, no. Not _only_ , Little Terror Muffin," she said and frowned. "I was thinking democratically. You, Santiago, and I all had ideas that could be helped with them, but my ideas were much simpler and could wait. Now that you're done playing with them, I'm going to need you to share."

Lapis stood up. "Hey Dartface, break the bubble. We're going with her."

Hiro, wide eyed, glanced from Lapis to Eris to Euna. Slowly, he picked up his talisman paper. He hopped up and tucked tight enough to Lapis's back that Lapis sighed. As they walked towards Eris, Lapis picked up the Golden Net from the ice cream social table. Euna had to wonder how she'd managed to untangle herself from it beforehand.

Euna's feet felt like they were going numb. Although she tried to hide the intention behind her motion, she set the scythe's base on the floor so she could lean against it.

Pax's jaw dropped. "You—you can't go with her. She's—"

"You and Axel left us with Dad _twice_ , Ajaxapax," Lapis growled. "And I'll bet you didn't even have a second thought when you were out with your little boyfriend at Mount Othrys. And now you want us to do what? Go braid our hair at Camp Half-Blood and have sing-alongs? What do you think it's been like with you and Axel gone?!"

Hiro stuck his tongue out at Pax and made some gestures that must have meant something rude in sign language.

Pax looked ready to burst into tears again. He hugged Axel tighter around the waist. Euna hoped—for Axel's sake—that Axel was unconscious. Else that bullet wound must have been burning.

Eris's frown deepened with thought. She tapped her lips with one of her black fingernails. "That's two new playmates for Atë. But I will need that scythe to kill my sister." She sighed. "Hemera thinks she and mom are just bickering, but I know what that is. It's attention. She's mom's favorite. Have you ever been the ignored child, even though you're _far_ more devastating than your siblings? Augh!" She threw her head back with that hysterical, malicious laugh and gestured towards the fallen tree. "Look at that, I'm monologuing like this deadbeat."

The goddess's gaze shot to Euna. "I'll be needing Kronos's scythe," she said.

Euna scowled.

 _I'm yours now, Daughter of the Grain. Don't let her take me_ , the blade whispered.

"Shut up," Euna snapped. With what was left of her strength, she lifted the weapon so it was ready to swing if Eris got any closer. Had Euna any more energy, she would have welcomed it. From what she understood of this conversation, none of this would have happened if it wasn't for Eris's "ideas."

The goddess paused, her frown twitching up into an ecstatic smile. "Actually… you keep it. The scythe is better in your hands. Mortals are always so much more creative than gods."

With this decision, she turned, set one hand on Lapis's shoulder and another on Hiro's, and pushed them over beside Phobetor. As they took a stand beside him, Hiro huddled against Lapis. Lapis glared at Phobetor. "What are you looking at?"

Phobetor huffed in offense. "I literally don't have eyes right now!"

Eris giggled and glanced back to where Pax held Axel. "Little Terror Muffin, are you sure? I'll give you Reese's Sticks and hugs and tickles. I'm only trying to hold the family together. You're pulling it apart. Look Muffin, I even wore the shirt you made me." She pulled the ends of her shirt down to show off the _Anarchists Unite_ script.

Atë tilted her head to the side, examining Pax carefully. "I told you that you were going to make the wrong choice. What if you're more of a danger to them being part of the group? You're pretty clumsy."

Pax couldn't seem to answer. He just shook his head violently, half-stumbling to drag Axel beside Euna and Kally, seeming to divide the room for war. Currently, they were a little outmatched.

Eris smiled softly. "Alright Little Muffin, but I can't have you and your friends getting in the way right now… and all of you _do_ need a good vacation. I think I'll send you somewhere that treats attempted patricide and murder quite nicely."

"Y—You said you were going to attack Camp Half-Blood. We're not going to let you do that," Kally said, trembling.

Although Euna wanted to agree, she also wanted to tell Kally they needed a serious tactical retreat. Kally must have forgotten she was talking to three gods. Merry and Calex were drugged to the point of unconsciousness. Axel, their tank, was probably out cold. Pax was a blubbering mess. She and Kally were both too exhausted to properly fight and Joey…

Joey was dead.

An icy rage clenched Euna's stomach, despite the urge to collapse into a nap. Everyone had been talking about how this scythe could cut out a god's heart. Maybe she'd have _just_ enough strength to cut out Eris's.

"I already told you," Eris giggled. "I don't like to directly do anything. I just set bombs into place and watch them go off. I already set yours. I'm excited to see whether your team or Percy's missteps first. Phobetor, make our friends easier to transport, if you'd please."

"With pleasure," the creature said and snapped his bow tie.

Then, like they'd only been shadows at the precipice of dawn, Atë, Eris, Lapis, and Hiro disappeared. The uncanny, faceless humanoid melted into black tar and began to expand, bubbling over the floor, walls, and creeping up to the ceiling.

Euna stumbled away from the creeping obscurity, but realized—as the rest of the world crumbled into a dark vortex of nothingness at the edge of her feet—that she was already asleep.

Phobetor had already won this fight. Eris would easily be able to whisk them wherever she wanted.

 _Very little changed as everything shifted to fit her nightmare. The forest disappeared. Kally was swept away by a giant snake._

 _But little on Euna changed. Her hair was matted against her face with sweat and dirt. Her body trembled with power and fury. The rosewood box with golden filigree was in her other hand. Joey's quest box._

 _Before, Euna couldn't imagine what could make her as angry as she was in her nightmare. She didn't understand where she would get the scythe._

 _Now, she understood why she was staring at the swirl of infinity, thinking about how she was going to crush_ them _. How she'd wipe them out one at a time. She didn't know who_ they _were yet._

 _Before the dream consumed her, Euna had to wonder what could make her feel this much more hatred than she already felt, and if she'd find out as soon as she woke up._

* * *

Part of this book's inspiration: Discord by Living Tombstone.

The Song Sister's theme song: Elastic Heart covered by Written by Wolves.

While this might sound obnoxiously cheerful after this ending, thank you for getting through book two of _Traitors of Olympus: Blood of a Mayan_. Despite you potentially hating me right now, I'd love to get feedback on what you thought of this story! Don't be shy—these books get done because of your support :D Let me know who your favorite characters are, what were your favorite parts, if you ship anybody, who you most want to punch in the face, and anything else you'd like to say. (Oh! And definitely please comment if you guessed Pax's mom. I know quite a few of you did!)

I'm going to be editing and breaking up _Whispers of a Snake_ and _Blood of a Mayan_ over the next month, but the first chapter of _Attrition of Peace_ should be out by May—hopefully earlier.

Thank you all again for going through this adventure with me. I hope you enjoyed!

And lastly, yet again, I wanted to call out to my editor and friend Mel ^^ As much as you were furious about the end of this book (sorry! I swear it's all for plot!) this series wouldn't get done without you, your support, and all the tea and hot chocolate you shower me with XD

* * *

Footnotes:

1 "I can't even make sarcastic remarks!"

2 "Stop! Stop! Stop! My brother ate some! Stop!"

3 Euna isn't going to care enough to alter Lapis's gender from the assumed one to the proclaimed one at this current moment of emotional distress.

4 I feel like all the gods have to say this at least once.


	34. Next Book in the Series is Out :D

Hey guys!

 _Attrition of Peace_ is out. If you're bored and have time, check it out :D


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